


ACT 6 ACT 3: Canceling the Download

by calumTraveler



Series: Stargate: Alternia [10]
Category: Hiveswap, Homestuck, Myst Series, Power Rangers RPM, Stargate - All Media Types, Stargate Atlantis, Stargate SG-1, Sword Art Online
Genre: A Wedding for Jack and Sam!, As per canon SG-1, Atlantis Takes Flight, Ba'al's multitude of clones continue to be relevant, Conceptual Meta Talk, Damara kills a bunch of Lord English time clones, Dealing with Alternate Selves and their alternate lives, Delving into Arthurian Myth more, Delving into the themes of the Homestuck Epilogues, Don’t copy to another site, Episode: s03e17 Sunday, Evil Ascended Beings that aren't Ori, Explosions, Gen, Goa'uld (Stargate), Lucian Alliance, Megazord Combat IN SPACE, Multi, Occasional Art, Occasional Musical Content, Parallel Universes, Quantum Mirror (Stargate), Replicators (Stargate), Some characters are expies of characters from other series, The IOA causin' trouble, The Trust (Stargate), Wraith (Stargate), and also some not so subtle nods, and i dont mean CLONE clones like one offs, but i mean... like a Bearing of Ba'als, does 'major character death' count when they're all clones?, major character death also now applies as of chapter 45, references to the anime GOSICK, some subtle nods to events of the homestuck epilogues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-26
Updated: 2019-09-27
Packaged: 2020-03-18 01:09:12
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 75
Words: 249,295
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18975778
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/calumTraveler/pseuds/calumTraveler
Summary: And so the Machine did observe the people before him, and he scoffed, thinking that they could ever possibly defeat him and his armies. "The idiots. The fools. Bugs to be swatted and Squashed."And thus did the Machine declare them obsolete, and deserving of death. And he raised his arm and thus did he spread his influence towards them- a sickening gleaming red light falling down from the heavens upon which he sat.Doom and Death, he decreed.Doom and Death, for his Kingdom would be of Machines ruling a dead land and a dead land only.





	1. PREVIOUSLY ON...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> WELCOME BACK.
> 
> (AGAIN).

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> >>NEW READERS! LOOK HERE! OLD READERS, WELCOME BACK! YOU CAN SKIP THIS!!<<
> 
> If you're intrigued by this, I'd highly recommend going to start back at the beginning even if you're not much of a fan of Stargate or Homestuck. I've done my best to make sure that this story is approachable from all angles and all points of entry as best as I can.
> 
> That said, if you're continuing on without wanting to go into the backlog, I can perfectly understand that, but you *really* should go back AT THE VERY LEAST to Act 6 Act 1. That said, here's a list of...
> 
> THINGS TO KNOW!
> 
> HOMESTUCK: Non SBURB A.U. Everything else- Powers, Time Shenanigans, and Ectobiology- has been put to use. Important details will be re-mentioned as necessary, but to TL;DR the important stuff for Atlantis: Jade Jackson is Jade Harley, Argo Lalonde is Davepetasprite, and John Sheppard is John Egbert. Trolls from Hiveswap are basically any Alternian you might run into at this point. NO, the Skaianet website lore from January of 2019 is *NOT* canon to this timeline- YES, the EPILOGUES are getting their themes explored a bit, but some of them were things I were already planning on exploring anyways, so you're likely not going to notice much difference.
> 
> Stargate-Verse: Generally follows the Series timeline, but things have gone off the rails in places. Current SG-1 team roster is Cameron Mitchel, Jonas Quinn, Jude Harley, Cassandra Fraiser, and soon to be Vala. ORI are *DEAD* and the Andromeda Ascendants are replacing them. Atlantis is going about per the course of the main series due to Ford's meddling of the timeline.
> 
> Obduction: Not on the series tag this act but there are no Space Pineapples, and their version of Earth is not in play. Meanwhile, the other three Alien Races, the Mofang, Villein, and Arai Beetles, have been included and show up, or get background mentions, at various points. 
> 
> Sword Art Online: Aincrad exists not as a game, but as a physical location in a Parallel Universe. Alfheim similarly exists as a parallel world, and I'm sure the world of GGO likely exists as well in some places though we haven't yet touched on THAT in story yet! We'll see if anything crops up.
> 
> Fate Franchise: Basically Artoria Pendragon was SG1!Earth's King Arthur, and was aided by SG1's Merlin/Morgan. She is presently in status unknown after being possessed by Damara. Mordred is still her son through shenanigans as of yet unexplained, and is now working with SG-1 under the name RIDER to try and rescue his father.
> 
> Other Minor Things: If you see an Alternian or Human or even a whole *concept* like Megazords or Mobile suits and it seems to be exported wholesale or expy-ized from another setting, it's 99.9% certainly me making a reference to that setting while not entirely importing it wholesale as a parallel universe. Included among this has been a couple characters lifted from RWBY, as an example, who have had some minor recurring roles. Basically, not things majorly present enough for me to feel like they belong on the fandom tags.
> 
> CHAPTER HEADERS AND TAGS:
> 
> SG1: Chapters that would fall under the SG-1 TV series production order.  
> SGA: Chapters that would fall under the Atlantis TV series production order.  
> ALT: Chapters that would fall under the "Alternia" series production order, if it were a TV series.  
> MIR: Mirror-verse Chapters that focus on events in a Parallel World, or a universe accessed through the Quantum Mirror. May be discontinued as of this Act; we'll see.  
> INTERMISSION: Any chapter with this basically falls inbetween the cracks of the above.  
> INTERVIEW: A chapter that has an Interview as its primary focus. (Might be Discontinued as well.)  
> MINISODE: A single snipit or scene that, for various reasons, would otherwise be left on the Cutting Room Floor.

**PREVIOUSLY ON STARGATE SG-1, ALTERNIA, AND ATLANTIS:**

* * *

 

A teen-ified Roxy Lalonde stares into her bedroom mirror and promptly FLIPS THE FUCK OUT, because she's been de-aged.

* * *

  
Teal'c and Jonas enter Major Carter's house and find her and O'neill- also turned into teenagers, in the bathroom. O'neill looks up and remarks, "Well it's about time you two showed up!"

* * *

"They're Shaper Clones," Joey Claire states for the record. "Like what I did for Thor back on Alternia, and for my other self when she needed a new body."

* * *

"How are you holding up?" Jacob Carter asks of a drunken Roxy Lalonde.

"Oh! Just peachyyyy keeeen," Roxy slumps onto a bed. "Just... lamentin' the fax that I ain't ever gonna be wit' Alec again 'cause there's some othah meee that's gonna wake up some day and not have to worry about bein jail bait by just wantin' t' sleep wit'er own 'usban..."

"Yes, the cloning blues," Jacob laments. "You'd probably want to talk with Joey about that."

"Wich on'?" Roxy asks, frowning. "'Ere's Two'f 'em."

"Harley, Egeria's host."

* * *

Queen Egeria of the Tok'ra sits down across from a human Joey Harley from a parallel world, one where...

* * *

 **"I AM VENJIX!"** the mechanical A.I.'s Voice cries out as flashes of his weaponry assault the world. **"AND YOUR WORLD IS NOW MY WORLD!"**

* * *

Insert a burst of rift energy as the Kyoretsu Zords burst forth from another dimension and crash into the Shower-themed Attack Bot.

With a roar, Joey Harley and her team combine the zords and destroy the Attack Bot with a devastating cross chop attack.

* * *

"Well, we should have realized Rose didn't get all of her powers from her Dad's side of the family." Your name is Jade Jackson, and you're honestly befuddled. "But... where the hell did Roxy's side of the family get powers from??"

"Well," Jake muses, "if I recall correctly, when I was working with her parents, they adopted her, so there's really no clear way of knowing for sure where her powers may have come from..."

"Wait, did you just say Roxy was adopted?" You ask. "By who?"

"Oh, that would be Jacques Lalonde and Samantha Freeman-" Jake said. "-who was the daughter of a friend of mine that I met after the Stargate was shipped over seas to the USA from Europe during one of the world wars."

* * *

"Ugggh. Seriously? Earth??" Your name is Vala Mal Doran, and you lay a withering gaze on the Ancient Language Translator you hired for the job. "The Gate Coordinates are seriously for Earth??"

"It's also where this 'Avalon' in the text is located," your translator says, adjusting his glasses that you swear are just untreated glass lenses and not actually corrective. "And Earth is where quite a many of the Ancient's technologies were developed."

* * *

"CAM!" Cassandra tosses him the sword.

And with a duck and a roll to avoid a death blow- Mitchel grabs the sword handle first and brings it around in a devastating blow to the backside of the Knight Hologram's left leg- through the knee.

The Hologram kneels, forcibly, and then Mitchel follows it up with a swing to the back of its neck.

* * *

And so Mitchel gives a nod and takes the slow route back to the sword's altar.

It slides back in, and--

_**PVVVVVM- SHING!** _

The whole room is suddenly filled with golden, gleaming treasure, and-

Vala shrieks in shock and surprise.

...There's a cryo pod with a bloodied, battered woman inside, clinging to a sword.

* * *

"She's remarkably well preserved, compared to the other example we have of long term stasis from Atlantis," Carolyn Lam observes.

"Her pod was stored in whatever matter buffer was holding the treasure," Jude Harley explains as he prepares to activate the defrosting process. "A double precaution of stasis. She likely never experienced any significant amount of the passing time within the cryopod unlike the other timeline Weir."

* * *

Your name is Mordred, and your eyes snap open.

"Hunt!" You call out, into the endless void of the Ascended Plane, and find yourself drawn immediately into a ruined negotiation chamber, where Hunt stands atop a pile of broken marble tables. "They're alive!" You tell him. "After all these years- I can finally tell! They survived my Clarent's--!"

You stop as Hunt's eyes turn towards you, a cold glint in them, and he says, "Irrelevant."

"Irrelevant!? IRRELEVANT!?" You stomp your foot, temper flaring. "How is this irrelevant!? My one goal in life was to best them and become King! You promised me when I Ascended. If they survived, You would-"

"Yes, yes, I would let you descend and confront them," Hunt's cold eyes narrowed, freezing the whole air around you. "However... plans have changed. We are in the middle of too critical of a step in our plans to lose your presence in this plane."

* * *

Mordred fights against Tegiri atop the Astro Megaship, only to be knocked off as it scrapes its own back wings off to fly through a narrow space.

* * *

Hunt appears within the Dakara conference room.

Five Mofang ships combine together into a terribly powerful Mecha.

The Prometheus crashes into its laser gun, and takes it with it into hyperspace, and then explodes in the distance.

Dakara gets destroyed anyways.

* * *

Karkat shields his eyes as an explosion happens on the Delta Mega's screen- washing out everything until it fades away, revealing a massive rift in space time before them.

* * *

Joey and Callie stand in a forest, peering upwards at the Mofang Cruiser stuck within its upper branches.

* * *

"So, what're you Alternian folk doin' out this far in the desert anyhow?" Flo asks. "On vacation or somethin'?"

"Sort of." Joey explains, "We're trying to find the ship that we think caused all the magic powers and body transformations."

* * *

The tow truck parks in town, with a large volcano framing the horizon in the distance.

* * *

And you think it's out here in the desert?" Flo asks.

"Well, something was," Callie adds.

* * *

"Look, all I'm saying is. I help them out. They get out of our hair. Simple as that."

Douglas Sharper had a good feeling about this.

* * *

The hologram of Yeesha steps forwards. _"Once again, the stream in the Cleft has begun to flow. It was dry for So Long. The water is flowing in from the desert."_

* * *

Joey, Dammek, Callie, and Sharper link into a frozen cave.

* * *

_"The Storm is coming, but I've been preparing. D'ni awaits everyone who goes there... Some will seek more there, and find more..."_

Joey flies through Laki's Sky, and later Noloben's, dodging attacking Bahro left and right.

  
_"But the water will flow where it wills. It seeks its own path, uncontrolled; except that it flows downward. Always downward. That is beyond its control."_

Joey dances across warping space, climbing higher and higher as she makes her round about way to get down into the blocked off Keep.

* * *

_"You can't imagine what you'll find."_

The team stand at the top floor of the Great Shaft, peering down into its depths.

* * *

_"You won't understand, all that you will learn, only now for myself has it become who I am. Only now have I realized my own purpose within this plan."_

Esher takes a shot- shattering his necklace of control crystals.

Joey later stands above him and double taps to ensure that the bastard remains dead.

* * *

_"I've learned things they never thought possible. I've lived in lands beyond their boundaries, and shattered the rules behind their laws."_

Joey Claire and Gordon Freeman confront the A.I. core of the Borealis.

* * *

 

_"I've become more than even I thought possible. But none of this for my own gain, No. There are much greater things than me."_

Joey hands the Tablet to a Bahro, and they shatter it against a rock.

* * *

_"The water flows downward, and there it pools and collects, and finally once again- It reaches the roots... And the tree begins to grow again."_

Elwurd stares at a Pegasus Stargate in Minkata's desert as it dails out.

* * *

"I'm Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard," you introduce yourself.

"Colonel?" the dude asks.

"It's my rank, Military designation?" You say, and there's a glimmer in his eyes.

"Specialist Ronon Dex," says the newly dubbed Ronon Dex.

"Name and Rank?" You ask. He grunts. "Military?"

"Used to be." Ronon stares off for a moment...

"Look," you try again, "We didnt come here looking for trouble with you and the killing thing is unnecesssary-"

"And just why-" Ronon points his knife at you as he grabs at the MRE pack again. "Should I trust you?" He takes another bite of the granola bar.

"Because like Teyla said before, we're just looking for our friend," you say.

* * *

"DEFENSE!" Aiden Ford's team is surrounded by Wraith.

The firefight that ensues is fast and furious.

Ford winds up disarmed and held to a railing by a Wraith, as he struggles, a marine lets loose a grenade, and BLAM!

Ford and the Wraith go tumbling over the railing into the Atlantis ocean below.

* * *

"Atlantis?" A panicked voice starts in response, "This is Doctor Novak. You're going to need some guards in the infirmary before we beam your man down."

"We already do," Beckett answers. "Beam away."

There's a pause, and then a new dot appears on the screen in the infirmary's location.

"Good Lord!" Beckett exclaims. "Let's get this thing off of him!"

* * *

Your name is Carson Beckett, and you and Doctor Fraiser share concerned looks before you turn to Major Sheppard.

"We gave him a mild sedative to help him rest, but..." You trail off.

"He should be dead," Fraiser says. "We still have no idea how it works, but during the Wraith feeding process, it seems like the victim is injected with a special enzyme. It seems to strengthen the human body in ways similar to a Goa'uld Symbiote, making sure the heart and other critical systems continue to function during the feeding process."

* * *

"Yeah, I think I saw him," Ronan says. "Sort of creepy fella. Black eye? Sort of stares into your soul?"

* * *

Your name is Mikari Aiikho, there’s another knock at your office door, and you turn and look and- Oh. God. It’s Ford. And his left eye is just... pitch black.

“Lieutenant,” you greet. “Doctor Beckett released you?”

“Why wouldn’t he?” Ford asks. “I’m fine.”

Something is wrong.

“Lieutenant,” you start. “I really think you’re not as well as you could be if you can’t remember someone you should know.”

“I’m telling you, I’m fine, Doctor Weir,” Ford insists. “Just clear me for duty again.”

* * *

Ford easily yanked his arm free of the handcuffs, and the chain snapped like it was tissue paper.

“Woah now!” A guard raised his hands as Ford got up from his bed and approached the door. “Easy, Ford!”

Ford stared at the man for a moment, and reached out for the cell door.

The force shield flared.

“Come on, man, just, go back to bed, would you?”

Ford stared forwards for a moment... and then he blinked his eyes and the man was gone and the cell door was open.

He stepped through the opening.

Another blink, and he was back in the same reality he always was.

“-CURITY BREACH! I REPE-AAAACHK!” The guard could only choke as Ford’s hands found their way around his neck.

* * *

"FORD!" Sheppard yells as the man approaches the teleporter. "STOP!"

Aiden Ford turns around, glaring at Sheppard.

"You can't stop me. Not here. Not anywhere." He smirks. "Every world, you shoot me with that stunner- no matter how big it is- and I tank it like a pro."

"So you've got some Mystic Eyes of Multi-world Perception, huh?" Sheppard frowns.

"You guys don't see the bigger picture," Ford says, tapping up at the left side of his skull. "I. Can. I can see it all. Right as it's unfolding right infront of us this very second. Thousands of worlds. Hundreds of years of drift between them all at once. So. Many. Worlds. Where no matter what happens, it's always you and me right here at this teleporter. It always happens and it won't stop from happening. Ever!"

* * *

A Nuclear bomb explodes over Atlantis, concealing their presence to the Wraith.

* * *

The troll possessed by the spirit of Damara Megido, the former Handmaid for Lord English, tosses Stelsa into a wall.

* * *

The Witch of Time, the former Handmaid to Lord English, Damara Megido, opened her eyes and found herself on a vastly different plane of existence, separated from the body she had been inhabiting mere moments before.

She frowned at the man standing across from her, and demanded to know how he had pulled her out of her body as she contemplated its state of rapid onset decay, and for what reason.

"You are in the Ascended Plane," Hunt put his hands out into the air to gesture around. "As for what I want? I have... Need. Of your unique talents."

* * *

Artoria and Mordred clash blades with the spirit of Damara Megido, who possesses Artoria, and takes Mordreds sword.

Later, Hunt is completely caught off guard as the possessed Artoria backstabs him and turns him back to being mortal.

Not too much later still- The Mofang Mecha and the Astro-Delta colide in a fierce battle in an unknown planet's frozen rings of dust and debris, resulting in the Astro-Delta destroying it with an Excaliber fueled sword strike.

* * *

"To the Tau'ri, and to the Jaffa hunting me," Ba'al says, "you have chosen not to heed my warnings to either of you, and so forced my hand."

* * *

"Sorry to disappoint," John says, "But I still don't have a name beyond the fact that you're not the snake that got loose when we captured Kinsey. So. I suppose I have to ask how many of you infiltrated the Daedalus crew?"

 **"Just the one,"** 'Caldwell' answers in what's probably a lie. **_"Me. Ba'al."_**

* * *

**PVVVVMMMMM- SHING!**

And then appearing with a burst of light across from them on the other side of the table is Lindsay Novak.

"Your Identification code was used to hack into this City's Operating System. Boldir confirms it. You brought the Trust- brought Ba'al the data and they rewrote the ZPM Failsafes to overload. You then reuploaded it into Atlantis' computers." Mikari reaffirms.

"This- This is ridiculous!" Novak hiccups. "You think I'm working for th-The Trust!?"

"We know you're working for the Trust," John draws his handgun and clicks off the safety, yet to raise it. "Now Give Us The Code."

Novak looks at them for a moment, and then her eyes flash.

 

* * *

A cabal of Ba'al clones work around eachother in an office environment.

* * *

Mckay raises a tablet computer. "I just got a data dump from the computer interface Doctor Kae put on the Dart."

"What did we get?" Mikari asks.

"If Ford documented his data properly like he seems to have?" Mckay smiles, "Well, I think we just got a solid listing of at least fifteen different Dimension's worth of Wraith Hiveship Fleet Movements."

* * *

Your name is Aiden Ford, and you stalk through the forests of some random ass planet, heading from the Gate to the nearby village.

There's nuance, and history, and backstory, to every single encounter and you're so fucking TIRED of people assuming that all of human history isn't just some story and that it'll never repeat itself.

You stumble in. You put on the mask, you say the lines.

During the chaos of the Wraith blasting everything, you duck behind a tree and flicker your form again. Thus disguised, then you sneak aboard the Wraith Cruiser through the Darts, and you fight your way to find a torture lab.

You return to your normal self, and burst in through the door. The Scientists inside never knew what hit them, and then, you find the targer you seek.

You peer into his soul to confirm it.

Yes. This is him.

* * *

You draw your weapon, and threaten the intruders, "Who are you, and what do you want?"

"Names Elwurd," the girl with blue dyed hair and a sand stained leather jacket stands up. "This is Marvus-" A tall, muscly fellow in stage show clothes that have definitely seen better days just waves from where he's lounging. "-And the rest of my crew. We heard through the grape vine that you were the guy to see about acquiring some Spaceships, Aiden Ford."

* * *

"So," your name is Mikari Aiikho, and you look over Doctor Beckett's report. "Do you think this plan of Becketts could work?"

"The Wraith are a strange hybridization of the Irratus Bug and Humans," Gina Kae says, "A Retro Virus could conceivably strip out the bug DNA and leave only Human DNA behind."

* * *

"Your Name is MICHAEL KENMORE, and you were kidnapped by the WRAITH and experimented upon," the strange alien woman says. "A man by the name of AIDEN FORD rescued you, and sent you to us on a Transport Vessel. Right now, you're in a private room off the Infirmary here in ATLANTIS."

* * *

"These Atlantians... to think I'd trust them with my life." the recorded man chuckles again. "If I am to live, to get my revenge on those who have wronged me... know this, I die today, but I will be reborn. And if I am watching this..."

His lone eye narrows.

"Know this, Michael Kenmore. There are worse enemies to be had." He coughs. "Watch what follows at your own peril."

* * *

Your eyes flutter open, and you realize once again...

You know who you are.

YOUR NAME IS MICHAEL KENMORE.

YOU USED TO BE A WRAITH, NOW TURNED HUMAN THROUGH MEANS OF GENETIC MANIPULATION.

That is a truth etched firmly into your soul- your very essence of being- for a VAST number of selves.

* * *

Your name is Keiko Ayano, and you grin as you plaster a star chart onto a screen in the briefing room with a click of a mouse button.

"Alright, is everyone here now?" You ask, even as Ronon and Mikari enter the room. "Okay! Cool! AR-1, AR-2! Our mission today is this!" You point at the starmap. "We're going to catch ourselves the Aurora."

"Don't you mean 'An Aurora'?" Teyla asks.

"Nope," Morgan Carter says, standing. "She means THE Aurora. It's an Ancient Battleship."

"Battleship?" John sits to attention. "Okay. You've got my interest."

* * *

"Zelenka reports the repairs to the Aurora are stalling without some proper reference material to functioning parts," your name is ARGO LALONDE, and you're doing your job as Secretary, briefing Mikari Aiikho on the day's business as you both head to your shared office space. "'Blueprints are only getting us so far when they only call for specific generators and parts without detailing those generators and parts', his words."

* * *

"We've found a sister ship to the Aurora," John informs Caldwell. "Called the-" Mckay and Jade both look at you expectantly. "-ARGO." Jade smiles brightly and Mckay groans. John smiles back at Jade.

* * *

The volcano erupts- and the ARGO sails itself across the exploding magma under the expert control of Jade Jackson.

* * *

"Zelenka, what's wrong?" Mikari signaled for him to enter the room, and he did.

"The long range sensors just picked up another Hiveship intercepting the first, and destroying it," he reported. "Now IT is heading towards Atlantis. At a much faster rate than the first." Mikari doesn't even need to ask, Zelenka confirms her fears: "It will be here in just shy of three weeks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And, We're, Back! Part 10 of this Long Running Series has finally been posted after a short break. I figured I'd kick things off right with a recap of major plot points once again. Some of these are going to be immediately relevant to the following chapters, even if they might seem out of place. 
> 
> It's been an interesting break. Wrote out the first draft of my original novel, now just waiting for my beta readers to give me some feedback on it to consider my second draft. Wrote up all of this week's chapters! WHOO! (Now to get started on Next Week's while I have the Advantage TuT) And ESO: Elsweyr expansion dropped too! I wrote and posted a short one shot thing that I might expand to a two shot in a few days, done in ye-old-second person narrative. Mild spoilers for that, if anyone cares.
> 
> Not sure if it's really been much of a restful break compared to my usual work flow due to IRL things, but what's done is done. Depending on what feedback I get on my novel, I may take another week or two off from this story to work on that. 
> 
> So. Yeah. Hi. I'm back.


	2. SG1:09X16: Off the Grid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A couple of goof Ba'als decide to do something Stupid. Elsewhere, Roxy Egbert learns about some of her biological family's history.

**EARTH, 1939.**  
  
 **NEW YORK CITY, HARBOR.**  
  
Several boats were in the process of unloading passengers and crew as a woman of European descent, owning long silver hair down to her feet and peering emerald eyes stopped in her disembarking to gaze at a boat called the ACHILLES owning a massive hole carved in the side of it with a frown. 

"Tell me, Kujo," she said to her traveling companion, "To what do you think could cause such a wound in a boat?" She spoke English with an accent that could almost be French.

"I don't know, Victorique," her partner in all things, of Asian descent, mused in a Japanese accented voice. "But it's quite the mystery, isn't it?"

She eyed the woman and man stepping off of the boat, along with the captain of the ship, pausing to take a photograph infront of the carved hole in the side of the boat by some news reporter.

"Tell me, Kujo," the woman, Victorique, narrowed her eyes towards them. "Do you see something strange with those three?"

"The two men seem related," he dutifully reported. "The woman..." He stopped as the woman in question turned her own glimmering eyes towards them- a pale hazel that spoke of unspeakable horrors seen and dealt with. Her crimson hair had a faint streak of grey in it, signifying an avoided doom. Perhaps she, too, had dealt so heavily with the war that had just ended not too long ago.

"Heh," Victorique smiled. "It seems one Grey Wolf has spotted another, Kujo."

"Eh? I didn't think any would be out this far," Her partner answered with a tired, but warm smile, brought about from years of dealing with her eccentric lifestyle and bossy attitude. Then, he did a double take as she started hurrying off towards the other boat with the hole in its side. "Wha- Victorique!? Where are you going?"

"To speak with my fellow Wolf, clearly," was Victorique's answer.

But as she made to speak with an aliased Cassandra Fraiser, a crew-woman named Caroline Freeman would disembark the boat, moving to meet her husband down on the docks, and so quite literally Victorique ran into her instead, causing the other woman to drop her luggage to the ground. Cassandra would move over to aid them in picking things up.

And thus a strange form of friendship had been born.

In a few years, Caroline Freeman would have a daughter, Samantha, who in her own adult years would later marry a man named Jacques Lalonde, and those two would go on to adopt a young girl named Roxane from Cordelia Avril Kujo, the daughter of Victorique Gallo and her heart, Kazuya Kujo.

* * *

 

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M8T7U7oSC0)

* * *

 

 **EARTH DATE: APRIL 3RD, 2002.**  
  
 **DIASPORA DATE: 10/12/0005.**  
  
There was a knock at the door of the EGBERT family home, and Roxy Egbert opened the door, a little hesitantly.  
  
"Hello?" She asked.  
  
The blonde haired, blue eyed woman on the other side smiled, speaking with something close to a British accent. "Hello, are you Roxane Egbert, nee-Lalonde?"

"Yeah, I am," Roxy nods. "Though I go by Roxy. Are you...?"

"Yes, we spoke on the phone," the woman offers her hand, "and since we're finally meeting in person, though I said it before, I feel it more apropriate to repeat it now. My name is Victoria Bradly, and I think I might be your sister."  
  
"Right," Roxy nods, considering everything that's lead to this moment, including the background check she ran. She takes the woman's hand and shakes it. "Nice to meet you."  
  
"May I come in?" Victoria asks.

"Yeah," Roxy nods again, and lets the woman inside. "We can speak in the kitchen."

"That's fine," Victoria says, following her through the house, not even pausing as she glances at the various photographs. "You have kids?"

"A couple, yes, as well as a few nieces that I look after too from time to time, and their friends," Roxy answers, motioning for an open seat at the table. 

"First off, I'd like to apologize for how abrupt this must seem," Victoria says. 

"It's cool," Roxy says. "I'm used to abrupt changes to the family tree out of nowhere."

"Ah? Interesting."

"So... What do you have for me?"

"Down to business then, of course," Victoria decaptchalogues a large photo album, and Roxy only raises an eyebrow, not very surprised given the amount of Sylladexes being sold these days. Victoria smiles slightly, and places the book on the table. 

"My Grandmother was born as a bastard child to a wealthy noble family in the long-since defunct country of Sauville, which was a small country once sandwiched between Switzerland, France, and Italy. Unfortunately it seems to have fallen some time after World War Two, as not many records of it could be found afterwards. My Grandmother escaped the country during the war, and afterwards, settled here in the States with my Grandfather." She opens the album and shows Roxy a photograph, a few people in it that Roxy recognizes.

Alternate-future versions of Cassandra Fraiser and Cameron Mitchel, a couple that Roxy knows from her own family photos as her adoptive family's grandparents, and...  
  
Roxy's pink eyes blink.  
  
And two others. A woman who could be the spitting image of the woman holding the photograph, and an asian man at her side. Victoria points to them, "My Grandparents. Victorique and Kazuya."

"These were my adoptive mother's grandparents," Roxy says, pointing at the two in question. 

"The Freemans, yes?" Victoria asks, and Roxy nods. "Yes, that checks out," Victoria nods. "You see, at around the time you would have been born, someone from my Grandmother's family village, some small remnant of it that survived the colapse of Sauville, had finally tracked them down and were seeking revenge, or so my mother told it. She, my father, and my Grandparents went on the run, and I was told that they left you to the Lalondes to raise you, fearing that it was no environment to raise a family at that time."

After a pause to let that soak in, Victoria continues, "Of course, during their trials and time on the run, my Grandparents passed on- from old age I was told. I'm told that shortly after that was when my parents had me, and were forced to hold onto me for some time until they could foist me off on someone else, in this case being a childhood acquaintance of my Grandparents- Avril Bradley. She was of no age to take care of me at the time, so she left me to her own daughter to raise... but she never hid my origins, as I was old enough at the time of being left to her to remember." 

"So..." Roxy starts. "Why now?"

"My parents finally wrote a letter to me this last year, stating that all old debts had been paid," Victoria said. "Unfortunately, I haven't heard from them since, and I fear that letter was sent with the last of their strength. Given that it seemed I was in the clear of being hunted, I was told by Avril that I would be clear to look for any surviving members of my family." Victoria smiles. "And so, here I am."

Roxy breathes out. "That's... a lot to take in."

"I know, it's a lot," Victoria nods. "However, I wanted to come in with all cards on the table." She swallows, gaining a serious look in her eyes. "Have... Have your children ever displayed a strange state of knowing things? Of being able to put together facts and narratives from scant pieces of information?"

Roxy pauses- then stares. "Yes, that's a thing we've noticed. Why?"

"That is an ability that hails down from my, or rather, our Grandmother, Victoria, and her own heritage from that fallen country," Victoria says. "I was told by Miss Avril that my family comes from a village of people known as Grey Wolves. People who have incredible intellect- powers that are well sought out by those who know what it is. ...The same people who were hunting my parents and grandparents down. She also told me that it's believed that we're one of the last few families in existence that have these abilities, given everything that happened in that country druing the time."

Despite the somber tone of the conversation, Roxy couldn't help but laugh, much to Victoria's confusion.

"Did I say something funny?" she asks.

"No, no," Roxy shakes her head. "It's just... my husband's family is descended from his sister-" She points to the picture of Jake Harley. "-And they have their own unique sort of family history too."

"Really?" Victoria muses. "What can you tell me? I'll admit I didn't do much research into your life beyond tracking down your current address."

"Oh, sweetie," Roxy laughs. "That's a story well over a million words."

"I have time," Victoria answers.

"That, and a non disclosure agreement."

"...A what now?"

* * *

"Avril Bradly, huh?" You are now JAKE HARLEY, and you frown mildly as you listen to Roxy retelling the story over the phone. "Now that's a name I haven't heard in years. She was something of a rival adventurer of mine for quite a while. We clashed in many adventures seeking the same treasures. I DID see her once after she retired, and I'd seen that grand daughter of hers.. what was her name again...?"

 _"Victoria,"_ Roxy tells you, and it snaps into place.

You then remember that meeting vividly. Avril conceding that if you had the stamina to continue adventuring that you'd won some long time bet between the two of you, and then introducing you to her daughter and granddaughter...   
  
You remember thinking about Roxy after seeing this girl, but not really anything more than a generic "I should probably get her some souvenirs."

Thinking on it now, you realize you were something of an idiot for not realizing that it was Roxy's younger sister.

"Ah, I really wasn't thinking then, was I?" You lament, moving across your rarely used office in the SGC to get to the coffee maker. "I really should have realized.... Oh well. I suppose it doesn't help I never made the connection because I'd never met this Victorique woman. I think I'd have remembered that strong of a family resemblance if I had. Maybe I should have. Shame, that..."

 _"What's done's done, Jake,"_ Roxy says. _"But, honestly, some of what she's told me is... well. It's making some stuff make sense now."_

"Like what?" You ask, getting some coffee ready to drink.

 _"Well, apparently being super smart as a kid runs in the family,"_ Roxy says, _"though I think it skipped a generation with me."_  
  
"Well, I wouldn't be so certain about that considering how fast your alternate self picked up-" not 'her', Jake, the proper pronoun right now is- "their void generating abilities."  
  
 _"Yeah, but that was like...  Loki genetic modding results, wasn't it?"_ Roxy asks.

"Well, powers aside," you say, taking your coffee mug and sipping at it. "I recall a few times when you were growing up where you were being extremely smart for your age."

"Now, that's just bullshit, Jake. I wasn't that smart," Roxy beats down on herself and you roll your eyes. 

"Roxy, please, you tore apart the television set in your own house when you were FIVE to figure out how it worked!" you remind her. "it's not anything that's-" And then the Gate Alarms go off, and you reluctantly put the mug aside to cover your open ear, and repeat, louder, "That is NOT what most kids your age were doing, or were even capable of getting away with without being caught."

 _"I don't remember that!"_ Roxy protests. 

"Yes, well-" you're caught offguard as a time displaced Davis Strider appears suddenly in your office. 

"Yo, Harley, make your way to the Gate Room ASAP." And then he's off again.

"Sorry, Roxy, I have to go. We'll continue this later."

She says her goodbye, and thus call ended, you head to the Gate Room, you arrive to find Egeria standing at the base of the Gate, talking with General Landry about something.

"Major Strider said I should be here?" You offer.

"Ah, Jake, good timing," Landry nods. "Joey and Egeria here were just telling us about a sudden rash of Stargate thefts from all over the Galaxy."

"Stargate thefts?" you ask. "How so?"

 **"Beamed away with Asgard tech,"** Egeria says. **"We suspect that Ba'al is behind this, given he was the last one in possession of the technology who would do such a thing, though we wouldn't also put it past the Lucian Alliance."**

"Speaking of," Landry says, "SG-1 was investigating a highly addictive food product that's been surfacing the last few days."

"Oh, right," you say. "Cameron mentioned something about it when I was talking with SG-1 this morning. _Evil Orville Redenbacher_ , I believe his words were?"

 **"Kassa, yes,"** Egeria nods. **"Or as Joey has taken to calling it, 'mushroom space corn,'"** She smiles, you smile back.

"Well, 'space corn' aside," Landry says. "SG-1 hasn't reported back as scheduled, and we've been unable to establish a lock on that planet's gate."

"So, you think the Gate's been stolen," You summarize.

 **"That's our assumption, yes,"** Egeria nods. **"The Tok'ra are very concerned over this, given that some of our settlements have gone dark because of these thefts. As the number of gates within the network being disconnected grows, more and more of the Galaxy grows darker and darker."**

"Jake," Landry says, "I'll be ordering the launch of the Odyssey on its maiden voyage to check in on them. Since you're here, would you be interested in joining?"

You think on it... Strider would have his reasons for sending you up here, wouldn't he? So...

"Of course," You say. "It shouldn't be anything too straining."

 **"I would wish to accompany you as well,"** Egeria adds. **"If this is a trick of Ba'al's, I would like to take steps to prevent further damage."**

"Are you sure that's wise?" Landry asks.

 **"Please, General,"** Egeria smiles. **"I'm so dreadfully bored dealing with construction planning sessions."**

"Very well," Landry nods. "You have a go."

* * *

Your name is Karkat Vantas, and you knock on the hotel door for a moment, then wait. 

The blue eyed, blond haired woman opens the door, blinking as she peers at you. "Hello?" She asks. "Can I help you?"  
  
"Victoria Bradley? I'm Major Karkat Vantas, Alternian Military," you decaptchalogue a large folder. "Here with your NDA on behalf of the SGC."

"Oh, yes, sure," she nods, and pauses just shy of opening the door for you to come in. "I thought Stargate Command had gone full disclosure, however?"  
  
"There are some private facts of importance the SGC has decided to keep quiet on for the personal privacy of certain members," you elaborate, "to keep them from being harassed on the street, you understand, right?"

"Oh, of course," she nods. Good. "I take it this also means you've run background checks on me?"

"Twice. Once after you first called Roxy Egbert, and another one after you and her talked this morning," you explain. "May I come in?"

She opens the door the rest of the way and you head inside the hotel room. 

"So, find anything you didn't like?" She asks.

"No, but it did confirm your story," you tell her. "Which means you're family, as far as this weird, messed up family tree of yours is." You smile, waving the folder. "The NDA is just a formality, really."

"I see," she says.

"Though, ah, we do have to run one quick test before I'm allowed to let you sign this," you tell her.

"And what's that?" She asks.

You trade the folder for a handheld scanner. "Gotta check to make sure you don't have a Goa'uld symbiote in your neck."

"Is that actually necessary?" Victoria asks, raising an eyebrow. 

"My boyfriend's brother got snaked a few weeks ago," you tell her. "It's actively a matter of national security at this point."

"Alright. You can scan me then. But, ah what happened to the brother?" She asks, moving her hair away from her neck, not that it was necessary for you to have that access to use the scanner. 

"Oh, uh. He got crushed under a falling power line. That's how we found out. Poor guy got electrocuted to death," you elaborate, as you run the scanner over the back of her neck and head. 

"Oh my," Victoria exclaims. "That's a horrible way to go."

"Yeah, tell me about it," you grunt. "Me and my boyfriend were home at the time. Heard the noise. And smelled the smells. It... wasn't pleasant." You still haven't been able to order anything freshly cooked meat based meals since then. 

"I can only imagine," she remarks.

The scan comes up clean, and you inform her of such, giving her the NDA to sign, as well as a small panic button device disguised as a small string and bead based bracelet. "If you ever feel like you're being targeted by someone, just squeeze the red stone really tight once and it'll signal for assistance, we'll have eyes on you after that point. If you accidentally used it, squeeze the green stone instead. If you feel like your life is actively being threatened, squeeze the pink stone instead, it will activate an emergency transponder and we'll immediately either attempt to extract you with beaming technology, or we'll send in a team to extract you personally in case we're unable to get a lock."

"This is certainly a lot of effort," Victoria Bradly muses as she leafs through the pages of the NDA. "How much nonsense am I getting myself into here?"

"Eh, something shy over a million words," you shrug. 

"Funny, that's the second time today I've heard that sentence." Then, she asks, "Also, why only scan me now and not earlier before I came to visit?" 

"Honestly not my call to make," you shrug. "I'm just the errand boy here."

"Hm, I suppose that's a reasonable response," she pauses, glancing at you. "What?"

"What what?" You ask.

"You're looking at me as if I failed to say something expected," she points a pen at you as she clicks it open.

"Honestly? Enough people just say 'fair enough' at this point in response to something it's kind of become a running gag around us," you say. "I guess I was kind of expecting it."

"...'Fair enough'?" She muses. "Ah, well, I suppose that's a reasonable let down as any." And then she begins signining the NDA with a smile that tells you she deliberately avoided saying 'fair enough' that time.

It's that same damned Lalonde Smirk you've seen both Roses and Roxys use. 

Yeah. She's family alright.

* * *

Meanwhile, in another dimension, in the Domed City of Corinth, a massive HYPER ATTACK BOT remote controlled by an estranged General Shifter attacks the city. The Paleomax Zords go to attack, and wind up getting remote controlled by the remote controlled attack bot.

* * *

 

Your name is General JACK O'NEILL, with TWO L'S, and you're looking across the table at George Hammond- soon to be retired- as you wait for the IOA Representative to show up at your meeting.  
  
"So," you start. "We're really doing this then?"

"We are," George nods. "Officially we're moving Homeland Security here to Colorado for proximity to the Stargate. There's some consideration from the Pentagon to move headquarters into NORAD proper."

"I still think 'Homeworld Security' is a dumb name," you tell him.

"Of course it is, but there's nothing I can do about it. Maybe you'll be able to rename it," George smiles in a trolling way. "Or the SGC, even."

"Why would I rename the SGC?" You ask. "'Stargate Command' is a perfectly sensible name."

"Fair enough, just making idle conversation."

Uh huh. Sure.

"So..." You check your watch. "Wheres this Woolsey guy at?" You tap at the watch's display. "I swear this meeting should've been over like... five minutes ago."

You tap at your watch a few more times when the office doors open and in walks Richard Woolsey, looking just as fed up as you are.

"Apologies for the delay," he says, "apparently my colleagues decided today was a good day to all have 'family emergencies' that I'm quite certain they made up at the last minute despite committing ahead of time to joining us here today."

"Well that's rude of them!" you remark.

"Indeed it is," Woolsey says, taking his seat. "Why is it I'm the only one who seems to care about any of this, I don't think I'll ever understand."

"Politics is a game few rarely play for honest reasons," George remarks. 

"Yes, that it is," Woolsey starts sorting out his documents. "Well, baring that in mind, and as they've seen fit to forefit any actual input over this transfer of power... I have no objections over the move from DC to Colorado Springs. Either of you have anything?"

"Nope," you say.

"I don't," George says.

"Very well then," Woolsey hands you both documents you're intimately familiar with. "The IOA then gives its approval over the transfer of leadership from General George Hammond to General Jack O'neill as previously discussed, and if my colleagues have any objections, then they really should have been here today. Please sign on the dotted lines."

You review your copy of the contract and license and see your cute, little insignificant typos in exactly all the places they should be, telling you it's exactly the same copy of everything you and George had hammered out before hand. 

Woolsey is really the only one who cared enough to take any time away from his day to deal with this. Seriously?

As if your opinion of politicians couldn't get any lower.

You and George sign, and Woolsey smiles at George, "Congratulations on your Retirement," and then he turns to you, "And congratulations on your Promotion."

"Thank you, Mister Woolsey," George smiles.

"Yeah, thanks," you agree, not quite feeling it.

* * *

 

"So." Your name is Joey of The Fallen Time, host to Egeria, daughter of Jake Harley. "What's new around Earth since I last checked in?"

Said father sits across from you at a table in the Odyssey's cafeteria, musing. "Roxy's sister got in contact with her just recently."

"Roxy has a sister?" You ask, surprised.

"Yes, well, her parents apparently had to go on the run shortly after giving birth and so they left her with the Lalondes," Jake explains. "And then while on the run, they had another girl, who they foisted off on an old friend of their parents. None of them told any of this to me, of course. Probably suspected we were being watched as it was. Fewer people who knew the better."

 _[And it's not just some Trust trick?]_ Egeria asks, and you relay the question.

"No, no, as far as I know she's cleared two background checks," Jake says. "That and a Goa'uld scan check."

"Well, that's good," you say. "I might have to meet this woman when we get back. Roxy having a sister, huh? Who would have thought?"

"It's something I'd put out of mind, shamefully," Jake says, shaking his head. "Until quite recently I'd forgotten that those folks even existed. Hell, I'd forgotten we'd nearly uncovered the timetravel loop involving what we hope is a doomed timeline Cassandra Fraiser and Cameron Mitchel once before. I... I just put it out of my mind. It didn't seem relevant to focus on. And it was so long ago too... I have no excuse for that, rightly."

"It's not your fault, you know," you tell him. "What year was it even?"

"Somewhere closer to the 1970s, rather," Jake says. "1964 was Roxy's birth year, so... It very well have been 1969 even."

"Hey," you start, "you don't think that they ended up being the people SG-1 hitched a ride with, do you? Roxy's parents?"

"As fantastic of a connection that might be, no, I know it's not the case," Jake shook his head. "Jack told me that they got in contact with him shortly after SG-1 got back from that mission, just as a 'check in to see if it worked out right' thing. I would have remembered them then if that were the case." He laughs a bit. "Though, I will mention to Jack that you thought of that. I think he'd get a laugh."

"The way you say that makes me think we know someone they ARE related to though," you deduce, and your alternate-verse de-aged cloned-father nods. "Who?"

He leans in, and whisper tells you, and also the reasons why it's being kept secret, and you can't help but laugh. 

Admittedly, that's going to be a funny reveal if it ever happens.

* * *

 

Your name is Cameron Mitchel, and you sneeze as the damned Lucian Alliance "prison guard" blows a space dandelion into your face. For The Fifth Time.

"Would! You! Stop! That!" You snap at him. For. The. Fifth. Time.

"No!" The man grins, and then goes to fetch another friggin Dandelion from the grass nearby.

"Leave it be, Cam," Cassandra advises you. "You're just encouraging him at this rate."

"No," you tell her. "I will not just let it be!" You rattle the wooden bar of the stupid animal trap you and the rest of SG-1 are stuck in. "That jerk keeps blowing dandelion seeds in my face and I am getting sick and tired of it! And we've been kept outside, in the sun, for atleast two hours overdue for check in, the STARGATE got STOLEN from us, so even if we could escape we're stuck on this piece of evil space corn growing rock until someone sends a ship to come get us AND-"

You're cut off as the bastard guard blows a full dandelion straight in your face, while you're speaking, leading to a multitude of the pesky cotton like seeds to go in your mouth.

You spit them out vigorously as the guard laughs.

"I tried to warn you," Cassandra says.

"No you didn't," You say inbetween intermittent seed spitting.

"She kinda did," Jonas says.

"Mmhm," Jude nods.

"I just want my damned sword," Rider remarks.

You glance at him, and wonder for the tenth time why the hell you brought him along on this mission again?

Oh, right, Cassie said it'd be a boon to negotiation to have some masked muscle along for the ride as you pretended to be buyers for this stupid evil space corn. But Cassie also didn't foresee the stupid Stargate getting stolen out from under you, so you're pretty sure this whole mission was a bust prediction-ways because of SOMETHING that the Handmaid did behind the scenes.

 **"Well well well, what do we have here?"** and then a fucking Kull Warrior shimmers into visibility next to the startled guard as he gets Zatted for his troubles.

"Woah what?" You back away rapidly from the edge of the cage wall.

 **"What? Don't you recognize-?"** The Kull Warrior stops, then groans. **"It's the mask isn't it?"**  
  
And then SHE removes the damned mask and you're looking in the face of Vala Mal Doran.  
  
"Oh, Hi Vala," Jonas greets with little surprise, you, meanwhile, are trying to cool your beating heart a bit from the jump scare.

"Hello, Fish-boy," Vala greets. "Gotten yourself into a bit of trouble?"

"We could do with a breakout, yes," Cassandra chimes in.

"Before the rest of the Lucian Alliance notices what just happened," Jude requests.

"Oh, that won't be any time soon," Vala holds up a freaking key ring in her other hand. "I zatted everyone on the way in when they weren't looking."

"I'll never tell anyone I said this but you are a miracle worker, Vala," you tell her.

"Save the flirting for later, flyboy, we need to get to the Stargate," Vala says as she finishes unlocking the cage.

"What Stargate?" Jude asks. "The one here got stolen."

"Exactly!" Vala grins. "I managed to get a tracking beacon on it before it got whisked away!"

"Now why would you do THAT for?" Jonas asks.

"Because I got screwed over by ANOTHER Gate Theft in the next system over and decided to take a risk and guess which gate would get stolen next?" Vala answers. "Also, I hid some valuables in the DHD of that other Gate and it got taken too, so I Kiiiind of need those back?"

"Of course," Jonas says with a shake of his head.

"I like this girl," Rider remarks.

"Oh I like you too, new girl!" Vala then asks, "Who the hell are you anyways?" 

Before Rider can answer with what'd be a most likely annoyed "not a girl for starters" there's a familiar _**PVVVVMMM-SHING!** _And the five of you, sans Vala, suddenly find yourselves on the bridge of a 304 battle cruiser. Standing nearby is Jake Harley, Egeria/Joey, and presumably the captain of this ship. Before anyone can say anything, though-

Jonas hangs his head, and says to the technician who brought you onboard, "Beam her up too."

"Who?" the tech asks.

"Vala. Who was standing next to us and letting us out of the cage?" Jonas answers.

There's a moment's pause, clicking buttons, then _**PVVVVM-SHING!**_

There she is, looking a bit pissed. "Let me guess," She said, "The suit made me invisible to the transporter thingy the first time?"

* * *

 

Your name is Rox(y) Lalonde, and you blink as you clear the metaphorical jet-lag sleep from your eyes. Metaphorical, because you just Linked to Earth from Atlanits, and didn't take a flight at all. 

Your other self is here waiting and smiling a bit awkwardly.

"Hey, Rox," she greets. 

"Sup," you greet in turn. "What's the big emergency? Someone didn't die, did they?"

"No, no," Other you shakes her head. "Nothing like that. I met someone interesting today."

"Interesting how?" You ask, dreading the answer.

"Our sister interesting?"  Wut.

"...Are you saying Loki cloned us AGAIN?" You ask, dreading the answer even more.

"No, actually, a real flesh and blood sister," Other you says. "Birthed by our parents while they were on the run and then foisted off on someone else just like we were!"

"Well, damn, that's shady of them," you say. 

"Suppose it is," other you says. "So... Do you want to meet her?"

"Yeah, sure," you shake your head. "Might as well. Just. Lemme go grab some sunglasses first."

"Eh? Why?" Other you asked with a way like it wasn't obvious in the least.

"Because I get the feeling I'm going to get lots of awkward smiles and I don't wanna look 'em in the eyes, duh," you answer. "Also, because sunglasses are cool and everyone I know wears the danged things these days."

"A...Ah, I see..." 

You get the feeling she really doesn't see at all, but you'll let it slide.

Still, a quick visit to Major Strider's office to grab a perfectly serviceable pair of sunglasses instead nets you a quirky set of bright neon pink lensed heart shaped sunglasses and a highfive from Davis. Other you rolls her eyes and doesn't get it, and instead asks why Davis is collecting so many freaking sunglasses. He has a drawer full of the gaudy things in all kinds of wild shapes and colors now.

Davis just says he's going to hand them out like cheap cigars at the first opportunity. 

Roxy doesn't get it.

You're pretty sure she won't get it at all, actually. Just, a gut feeling in your stomach.

...Okay, maybe that's a lack of eating lunch.

You ask if there will be dinner.

There will indeed be dinner.

Suddenly tonight might not be as big of an emotional drain as it might have been otherwise.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, yet again in the Domed City of Corinth, the Rangers manage to break the Paleomax Zords free of the remote control, and bring all twelve of their Animal-Vehicle Bio-tech Zords together into a single cohesive Ultrazord for the first time.

Needless to say, General Shifter's Hyper Bot didn't stand a snowballs chance in hell...

Or a prehistoric monster's chances of surviving a meteoric impact at relativistic speeds.

* * *

 

Ba'al was a smart Goa'uld, and Ba'al knew this well. But Ba'al also knew that some times Ba'al could be a bit over certain in his plans succeeding. Sometimes, several Ba'als in a room just bounced off of eachother with bad ideas.

That is to say, you are now BA'AL, and you are massaging at the bridge of your nose as you watch a recorded and transmitted-before-death black box feed of one of your Ha'taks get raided by SG-1, stealing back all of the stargates no less than THREE of your clones thought it was a good idea to steal. What even was their game plan here? You seriously had no idea who approved this.

You felt little to no remorse as you watched your three idiot clones get offed one after the other.

You. Damn. it. All.

And SG-1 got away with all the Gates and were rapidly going to return each and every one, destroying those Ha'taks with a parting nuke to the engine room via Asgard beaming tech.

All in all, a successful maiden voyage for their new ship- Odyssey, wasn't it?

You're sure to be expecting a call from- Ah, and there it's ringing now.

You answer it with a damned guess, "O'neill. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

 _"Boccie. How's it bouncing?"_ The irritating General inquires. _"Lose anything lately?"_

"Only a few idiots who thought it was a good idea to steal company property. They've been appropriately fired, as I'm sure you're well aware."

_"Ah, well. Damn. Here I was hoping to gloat."_

"Believe you me, if I had authorized this, I would have gladly accepted the gloat and wallowed in the bitter after taste of defeat. As it is? May I just toast to the simple fact that sometimes, too much time alone with yourself can lead to incredibly STUPID ideas."

_"Amen to that."_

And then you hang up without a second thought.

Really. Stealing Stargates. What were they even thinking? Building their own Gate Network? As if they'd...

...

...No. That's almost certainly what they were planning on doing, wasn't it?

Idiots. If they'd checked in they would have discovered you already HAD plans in motion to manufacture the damned things based off of plans 'copied' from the Alternians. Seriously. It's not that hard to make the things with the right knowledge.

* * *

Late that night, in the other dimension, General Shifter began his plans to remote control the Red Ranger to fight his own teammates...

But, the Red Ranger, naturally, broke free, and not a few minutes later, well...  
  
Shifter's ambitions would see him destroyed by the Ultrazord.

Venjix's Grinders would scavenge his body's remains to use in constructing a new, final, massively impressive body for Venjix to use in his final plan against the Rangers and the city of Corinth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fun Fact, I accidentally goofed when formatting this chapter's title in the text document and put it down as ALT instead of SG1. WHOOPS. Glad I caught THAT.
> 
> I've been toying with whether or not to commit to yet another series connection within this meta-universe when it comes to Roxy's side of the family. Back when I first wrote that scene (repeated in part in the flashback review just last chapter), I'd decided to leave it vague as to Jake knowing who Roxy's biological family was incase I decided to go with a different take, or just decided to never commit. But, well, GOSICK is just another piece of the meta-fictional puzzleboard here that just *Massively* fit into place in all the right ways.
> 
> A: The anime/novels took place in the year just before WWII, and the Stargate, of course, was shipped over to the states sometime AFTER WWII, and wouldn't you know it there were some sequel novels with Victorique and Kujo living in New York RIGHT AROUND THIS SAME TIME! (It's not exactly the same, but... To be touched on shortly)  
> B: The main star is a blonde haired girl who's way too smart for her age, and this ties in just perfectly with what we've seen with Rose, and also to a degree, Roxy.  
> C: I recently did a rewatch of the series and felt like I should strike on introducing this plot point while I felt confident in my knowledge of the series itself, which, wasn't something I could *DO* back when I first made the first hints of this.
> 
> Now, in the canon series the country in question survived, but I've made no mention of it here in SG:Alt, and I needed SOME reason for Victorique and Kujo to be out of the picture, unfortunately, as much as I love them as characters. Unfortunately, due to their placement in the early 1900s and the way all of this was already pretty much laid into motion, their story was going to end up in tragedy again. They were never separated again, though, so atleast there's that. That, too, was part of the reason why I didn't commit initially. It was too much of a downer note for me then...
> 
> Anyways, pertinent details to the backstory have been given, and if you're interested enough by what you've read, I can whole heartedly recommend the anime GOSICK as something to watch. After it failed to receive an English Dub in 2011, it finally got one just very recently, and if you can find it, it's well worth the watch. But I'm not going to make it a critical material to SEE, it's just.. enLIGHTening to watch I suppose? :P 
> 
> Puns aside, all of this is just a fancy way of saying: yes, Rose's super smarts have their reason for existing, and it's not just because I'm drawing on Homestuck Classpects for a change. 
> 
> In happier news, Vala's back! She's such a breath of fresh air to write. We're gonna be opening this whole act with the end of Season 9 and start of Season 10 of SG-1, as well as the ending to RPM. Of a sorts. Some endings are just another form of beginnings, after all.
> 
> Epilogue thoughts: Yep, going in full steam on TransGuy!Roxy here. Expect some interaction between him and Rider sometime... next week I believe? Monday, likely, maybe Tuesday, depends where I feel that scene fits best in terms of location.
> 
> Other than that, schedule wise... I've been keeping to what's actually a sun/mon/tues/wed/thurs schedule for a while now, just waiting until it hit 5 or 6 pm my time so that I could bump the dates to m/t/w/t/f instead...
> 
> I'm just dropping pretense here and just uploading it asap instead of holding off until then. Sometimes I forget, or time zones screw me up, so it's just easier to keep to the actual days I'm preparing the files rather than waiting. Hope nobody minds too badly on that relatively minor change.


	3. SG1:09X17/18: The Scourge of Authur's Mantle

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The team makes a discovery that could save the Galaxy; Vala gets corrected on some assumptions.

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 4TH, 2002.**   
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 10/12/0005.**

Your name is Jack O'neill, and as you sit at your desk at the newly established temporary base of the new HOMEWORLD SECURITY OFFICES (Eh, you're getting more partial to Homeworld Command maybe? HWC? Eh? Ehh??) you find yourself wondering how your one formerly Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter is doing.

Ah, to be there helping her out in that mission.

You hope she radios home sooner rather than later.

In the meantime, you pause at a report on your desk from LANDRY, who's taking over permanently at the SGC in your stead. SG-1 on Babysitting Duty for some IOA Reps on the Gamma Site? And Cassandra flagging you a notice to buy extra bug spray?

 _Hoo._ Boy.

To be but a fly on the wall for TODAY'S adventures in babysitting... Poor SG-1. And Poor Woolsey, too. Man doesn't deserve whatever's about to happen today, that's for sure.

You shake your head with a smile and get to work on today's paperwork... Hrm. You wonder if you could poach Walter from the SGC since you're basically working in-state now rather than half-way across the country?

You could do that... right?

* * *

 

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M8T7U7oSC0)

* * *

 

Your name is Vala Mal Doran, and you smile as you place a control crystal infront of Doctor Lee.   
  
"And what am I supposed to do with this?" He asks.

"See, I found it among some ancient ruins that my regular Ancient translator told me mentioned 'Avalon' and, well. I Figured it just HAD to have something to do with something recovered from that vault."

"This is what you were hiding in the DHD?" the new girl asks, eyeing it. "Why didn't you give it to us first?"

"Well, yes, but see I had to get the box it was in translated first to figure out what it was, and, well Fish-boy refused to do any translating for me so I had to take it elsewhere!" you explain. "I'm honestly surprised you guys let me leave with it, really."

"Apparently baring the intervention of the ghost who possessed my father," new girl shrugged, "nothing was going to stop you from coming back with it."

"I'm not sure whether I should be relieved or not at being so predictable, new Girl," you say.

"Okay, for the first and last time since I didn't get a chance to say it before," she glares at you. "My name is Rider, and I'm NOT a GIRL."

"Okay, if you're not a girl then I'm Teal'c," you counter, not really thinking, because DAMN she's got the build.  

"I'm going to just go do my own thing with this crystal before one of you breaks it," And then Doctor Lee absconds even New Girl's green eyes glare at you... huh. You could swear there's a bit of flames in them. Hrm. 

...Okay. You're getting the impression you might have accidentally stepped on a psychological hot topic button without realizing it was THAT kind of hot topic button.

Whoops.

"Yes, you do that," you wave him off even as he takes the Control Crystal thing away. "Now then. All jokes aside and being totally serious for a moment. Now, be confident and sure of yourself, and tell me what I'm getting wrong because I'm clearly missing some important piece of context here."

"Fine." She glares at you. "I want you to stop calling me "New Girl"! Because A: I am not NEW. And B: I. AM. NOT. A. GIRL. Get it through your skull already or I'll take a sword to it instead! I am my Father's SON plain and simple! I. Am. Not. A. Girl. Got it??"

"Alright, sorry. Message received loud and clear, New Guy," you answer in turn. "No more miss-gendering. Sorry for that. Didn't realize that was what's going on here."

'Rider' (Okay, MAYBE you can see the pun in that now...) opens their mouth to protest, then snaps it shut. "Fine. Whatever. That's good enough for now."

"Glad to hear it, New Guy!" You grin. "Now, what's this I hear about a ghost possessing your father? Is he hot?"

New Guy's eyes glare at you. "You're not going to let the 'new' thing go, are you?"

"In case you haven't noticed, I have a pun-y nickname for everyone, subject to change if they protest it for the right reasons," you tell her- him. Whoops. Gotta get that right. Vala Mal Doran may be many things, but she is definitely not someone who intentionally messes with someone over a subject like THAT. Not intentionally, at any rate.

"...Fine, I'll tell you what happened with my father if you tell ME why you call Jonas 'fish-boy'," New Guy counters.

You grin in turn.

Okay, maybe you didn't screw this up too badly then.

* * *

 

Rose Egbert worked on solving a RUBIX CUBE with one hand while casually reading from a rather hefty book.

Your name is Rox(y) Lalonde, and you feel torn.

On the one hand, Rose's super smarts now have a firm family reason for existing beyond genetic manipulation (Though, honestly, you wouldn't put it past Khepri to have done something of the sort to a random group of humans in Europe long enough ago to cause this sort of thing). On the other? The look of interest in Victoria Bradley's eyes was a little disconcerting, and you can't quite place why.

"So..." She starts. "She's always been this excited for learning?"

Other you starts answering something affirmative in that regard.

No. You think you know what it is that's bugging you.

It's too easy. Too simple for knowing where this part of your family's history is coming from. It's usually been a ton more work and emotional effort to reach a point like this, plus who knows how much speculation.

It feels like this should be the kind of thing that kicks off a story arc rather than rounds out a season.

...Hrm, maybe its some of that 'grey wolf' in you talking there, treating everything like a narrative? 

Yeah, you're not a fan of that idea.

Please, magic grey wolf gene stuff, please have skipped a generation with you?

You really want to head back to Atlantis ASAP, but you know when you do, Rose Lalonde is going to come running to see. 

God damn it all. 

At least Victoria's not thrown much of a fuss over naming conventions or gender ideals, so there's that. You were a little afriad of that.

...

...

Still, maybe you can take the time here to avoid more awkward family expansion shenanigans by working in the SGC for a little bit, while still being around if needed incase something with this comes up.

Ugh, though, just what you needed. More time spent around your more feminine alternate self flaunting her assurity of identity.

It's not even really the gender stuff getting to you at this point. It's more to the fact that she seems to look at you and every change you make to differentiate yourself from her as if its some kind of personal offront.

Even now she keeps glancing at you, frowning slightly, and glancing back before reverting the frown to a smile.

She doesn't like you, because you're not trying to be her anymore, and you're not sure if that's just instinctual because YOU don't like her, or if because you don't like her you're misreading the entire situation.

Then, speak of the bell, and it shall ring! Your cellphone buzzes, and it's Landry requesting you return to the SGC to help with a situation.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 5TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 10/13/0005.**

Your name is Jude Harley and as you're beamed back down to earth after the Odyssey picked you all (SG-1, the IOA reps, and some poor scientists) up from the Gamma Site, now overridden by cannibalistic self replicating bugs, you can't help but feel as if you've missed some important revelation or something.

"Jude!" And then there's some dude in pink heart shades and- Wait, that's Roxy Lalonde waving you down! "I need your help with something."

You check with Cassie, she nods, and you head off from the rest of them to the Isolation Ward, which is conspicuously empty save for a table with a device sitting on it.

"What are we dealing with?" You ask.

"The thing Vala hid in the DHD was a control crystal for this device here that we recovered from the Avalon Vault," Roxy explains. "Well, Doctor Lee activated it and Vala and Rider wanted to be present for it, and then they all vanished."

"Oh, great, so the device is a teleporter?" You ask.

"Not exactly," And then on a computer monitor, Roxy brings up a bit of footage along side a radiation counter and...  
Oh.

"Lepton Radiation?" You scowl over the oddly familiar words. "Wait, aren't these the radiation particles that got recorded with the Crystal Skull incident?"

"The very same ones, yes," Roxy nods. "I think we're dealing with the same exact phenomenon here."

"So instead of one random SG-team member geting phase shifted to meet a bunch of aliens, it was Vala, Rider, and Doctor Lee?" You ask.

"Preeetty much."

"So we have to reverse it somehow," you deduce.

"Yeeep."

"How long have they been missing?" You ask.

"Since yesterday afternoon."

"Great. Let's get them back before they kill eachother then."

And so you both get to work.

Soon enough, Jonas joins you in the work, translating runes and documents to discover that this device was called ARTHUR'S MANTLE- or rather, Artoria's Mantle, really. It was apparently a device Merlin had made to cloak Camelot from sight during invasions. 'Cloak' being a rather ill-described way of saying that this device phase shifted everything within a certain radius to a slightly different wavelength and dimension from everything else. 

Meaning that, right this very moment, Vala could be standing next to you all talking your ears off and you'd be none the wiser.

Or she could be doing incredibly childish things to Jonas behind his back. Like making it seem like he has bunny ears. 

...You desperately avoid thinking about anything lewder she might be tempted to do.

* * *

 

"Bunny ears? Really?" Your name is RIDER, and you shake your head. "Really?? Bunny Ears?"

"What can I say?" Vala says, holding her hand half inside Daniel's head with her index and middle fingers poking out at angles. "I'm. Bored. And we can literally pass through people right now so I might as well get some fun out of it."

"You both could be helping me figure this out, you know," Lee remarks.

"Nah," you say, trying your best not to fall through the floor. This whole out of phase experience is reminding you FAR too much like your days as an Ascended being. "Busy enough as it is not dispersing into the far corners of the world right now."

As it is, if you stop thinking about keeping your feet on the ground you might just stop moving with the planet's motion and stop cold in your tracks. The others are more used to a mortal frame of reference so they're not, like, badly drifting or anything. Infact they're doing a pretty good job at keeping their feet firmly planted like it isnt a big deal....

"You won't let me touch it every time I've offered, so why should I now when you're asking?" Vala counters.

"Well, forgive me for wanting to keep the discussion centered on something positive!" Lee huffs.

You loose focus for a moment and start to float upwards. You quickly tamp back down on it and make sure your feet 'clack' on the floor as flat as possible without clipping through to the other side.

...Yeah. Being out of phase with reality sucks because if you stop thinking about it, you'll default to Ascended Movement patterns and none of the laws of reality will apply and you could get so HORRIBLY lost.

Hurry up, guys! You're tired of this!!

* * *

 

"So, bugs huh?" Your name is Jack O'neill, and you look at the incredibly tired Richard Woolsey across from your desk in your new office.

"Yes," Woolsey remarks. "Fortunately, my colleagues in the IOA realized that this was basically a natural disaster and there wasn't anything anyone could have done to prevent it."

"Well, at least there's that," you say. "Did any of them-?"

"Not even one mention of moving of Homeworld Security from DC to Colorado."

"They _really_ didn't care that much, did they?"

"Not even one bit."

"You know, I'm beginning to think they really don't care to do their job at all."

"I'm not sure what's the worse outcome, that they're so indifferent that the people who really care to do their jobs can do their jobs right, or that they're inevitably replaced with someone who has delusions of power and starts meddling in affairs not their own."

"Let's hope they stick with the former, then," you say.

"Agreed."

* * *

 

There's a lurch, and then you're suddenly feeling a little bit different than before.

"Oh, hello, Fish boy."

Your name is Jonas Quin, and you suddenly, quite accidentally, found yourself transitioned to the out of phase dimension while Jude and Roxy were on a lunch break.

"Hello, Vala," you answer, looking around. "What just happened?"

"I think that was me," Lee raises his hand.

"Well, thanks," you glance around, and notice the hologram being projected from the device in this world. "Oh, well would you look at that."

"Yeah, I can't read Ancient that well," Lee admits.

"Let me take a look before you mess with anything else," you tell him.

"Great," Rider says. "Maybe soon we can get back to being solid again? I'm hungry."

* * *

 

"Jonas now too?" Your name is Rox(y) Lalonde, and you sigh. "Well, atleast we know they're still working on it on the other side."

"There is that!" Jude nods. "Well, hopefully it'll work out alright."

"So, what now?" you ask.

"Now, I guess we wait," Jude says sitting down at a chair. "I don't think there's anything much we can do on this side."

"True," you say. 

"So. Victoria Bradley huh?" Jude asks.

"Ugh. Can we not talk about that?" you close your eyes. "I'm already a little miffed about all of this."

"Why?" Jude asks. "I'd thought you of all people would be excited to have a new sister."

"Because..." you sigh. "I don't feel like I've earned it? Like, even when I was still other me and not cloned, I don't feel like I'd DONE enough smart things to earn having this kind of revelation dropped on me."

"Who says everything in life has to be earned?" Jude asks. "Sometimes things just work out and fall into place by accident. Or because whatever else was holding them back just stopped holding back through no effort of your own. Life isn't always just... a puzzle to be solved."

"I feel like I should be, though," you tell him. "That's how it keeps happening. Ever since the Black Hole, it-"

You stop as Jude laughs.

"The black hole," he shakes his head. "I'd almost forgotten about that."

"Seriously?" You ask.

"You did help out a lot then, Rox," he puts a hand on your shoulder. "And you've done a lot more over the years too, cloned or not. You don't have to keep trying to 'earn' good at this point to make up for being cloned. You're already here."

"I suppose that's true," you say, but before you can say more, there's a warping to the air, and suddenly Doctor Lee, Jonas, Rider, and Vala are back in the room.

"THANK YOU!" Vala exclaims. "Thank you and your translating skills, Fish Boy!"

Meanwhile, Rider just sinks to the floor and spreads out their arms wide to cling to the whole planet it feels like. "Solid Ground... I love you so much..."

"I think I'm going to go tell General Landry we made it out," Lee goes to leave.

"And I think we need to call Jack and let him know what we found," Jonas says.

"What did you find?" You ask.

"Ah, well..." Jonas pauses, scratches at his nose, then says, "The Gate Address to an Anti Ascended Being Weapon Merlin was creating underneath the Mantle's invisibility field."

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in another dimension, within the shell of his new, fancy attack bot body based upon the remains of General Shifter, Venjix observed a flux of residual dimensional energy radiating from the remains of Cheyenne Mountain through what was almost certainly a weakspot in the dimensional walls thanks to the former presence of a Quantum Mirror in that place.

He mused on the fact that it was his creator's birthday today, and if there was any significance.

No, he decided, there likely wasn't any.

With that, he filed away the relevant data structures within his current pet project, and meanwhile meandered the halls of his palace as the rest of his plans churned in motion towards completion.

Tomorrow, he would erase Corinth City from the map.

* * *

 

You are now Samantha Carter, and you look at the last of the marked entrances to D'ni... the last one that, like all the others before it, have been sealed by a rockslide, and then a solid wall of the D'ni's synthetic stone element NARA, as well as traces of the NAQUADRIA ELEMENT interspersed in between the elements.

When VENJIX had struck in this world, it became clear that someone had gone to a lot of trouble to rig any possible entrances to D'ni to explode if they were ever attempted to be breached.

Someone was smart, in that regard. 

Where they got Naquadah from, you don't know, or care to know. 

At any rate, there's no real way to get down to D'ni to check on its status at this point, and it seems relatively well sealed off anyways.

Venjix would have a very hard time getting to D'ni. This much Naquadria around every single entrance would likely cause a huge collapse of the upper tunnel systems, including the Great Shaft itself, sealing it all off and burying it for a very very long time.

This part of the mission is a success, at any rate, so that leaves you and your team debating what to do next.

About half an hour of debate passes...

But, in the end though, you all agree that you just can't turn your back on Corinth City, and resolve to do your best to help save this world from destruction.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ended up combining two episodes here into a single chapter because, well... I honestly didn't want to rehash the bug episode, and also, I'm trying to cut down on chapter bloat! So... yeah. Condensing where I can. I almost very nearly condensed this into the *next* episode as well, but then it was getting too long. So I tried condensing the next two episodes together into one and then THAT got too long for my liking... UGH, what ever happened to avoiding chapter bloat? XD 
> 
> Corinth!D'ni's version of the DRC and Yeesha sealed the cavern entrances off rather solidly. Nobody's getting through that for a very long time, and they're likely very happy down there in isolation, unaware of surface events.
> 
> Though, certain people would be very confused by the sudden shattering of their Instance of the Bahro Tablet earlier in the year from within its Keep, and the subsequent release of Bahro from their servitude. 
> 
> Ah, but that's not a story we'll likely focus on given current events.
> 
> Next: DANGER AND DESTINY, then: CAMELOT, to wrap up Season 9 of SG-1. We're chugging along now!


	4. SG1:09X19/20: Danger & Destiny; Camelot (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Venjix begins his final assault on the City of Corinth; SG-1 goes to Camelot in search of Merlin's Weapon.

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 6TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 10/14/0005.**  
  
Your name is General Jack O'neill, and honestly, you're not sure why you're sitting through this briefing again, except for the fact that there's a ton more information to sift through this time.

The Tok'ra Reps are here, the Jaffa Government Reps are here, a few Alternian Reps are here, and hell, so are a few Atlantis Representatives too. Also, the IOA too, nearly forgot about them, since it's only one guy.

Everyone's waiting to hear what's going on.

"Alright," Jonas Quinn starts leading the briefing off with a slideshow projected image of the Mantle device. "According to the Repository on Arthur's Mantle, which is actually something akin to an Ancient Laptop-" You chuckle quietly at that. "-Merlin was conducting research on a new kind of weapon. Something huge. He went to great lengths to try and hide it. The Mantle was also designed as a purpose of keeping his research a secret. He needed a way to cover his tracks and keep it hidden from his fellow Ascended Beings."

He changes slides, showing the Ark of Truth as it lay atop a Ring Platform, with Joey Claire kneeling next to it with a determined look on her face.

"Now, we know from the mission to recover the Ark of Truth that Morgan La Fey, or Ganos Lal as we knew her better, was dispatched to interfere with Merlin's research, and that she decided instead to help him hide the device somewhere instead."

"While this was going on," Rider chimed in, "The Andromeda group were interfering with my Father and his kingdom of Camelot, or the Earth based version of it, anyways. They rigged events so that I'd be born, and predisposed to turn against my Father. But they just wanted me as a weapon to wield another weapon. I'm pretty certain now that whatever Merlin was building and hiding was something they were after, too. Even if it was just as a side goal."

"Now, we had no idea what this weapon was for sure, and as far as I'm aware, Ganos never told any of us what exactly it was- or if she did, she swore them to secrecy out of fear of being struck down-" Jonas shakes his head, "But now with the Mantle, we do know. This weapon Merlin was building was a device targeted against the Ori. A Weapon capable of destroying Ascended Beings."

Woolsey, who's sitting in as *THE* IOA rep, whistles. "Given the events that the Andromeda group have been causing the Galaxy, I can see why they would want such a thing, if only to destroy it and maintain power."

"Merlins' notes make mention that he was wary of their meddling, though he suspected them to be an offshoot of the Ori," Jonas explains. "He thought they both posed a significant threat to the Universe."

"Of course," Mitchel starts, "he had no way of knowing Snake Face English ate them all a few thousand years ago."

"Exactly," Jonas nods. "Now, thanks to Rider's information, given what we know of the Andromeda Group's intents under Hunt, and the fact they've laid low for the time being after his death, we have plenty of reason to suspect that they're consolidating power in an attempt to rebuild a power base and strike back again to try and take over the galaxy again."

"And it goes without saying that we cannot allow this to happen," Teal'c, present to represent the Jaffa's interests here, says. "Was this weapon completed?"

"According to Merlin's Notes," Jonas clicks slides. "Yes. It was. And he hid it away here."

The slide is of a Gate Address.

"Now, reading this address out loud like some Ancient Gate Addresses can be and translating to English," Jonas smiles. "The Weapon is hidden in The Kingdom of Camelot."

 **"Well then,"** Egeria remarks. **"I believe there is significant cause for all of us to want to recover this weapon."**

You look to Landry, "Hank? While it's your call, I can't stress how important this is for all of us to take out those Andromeda jerks before they decide to try wiping us all out."  
  
He nods. "Agreed. Everyone, gather up your best and brightest, and let's get this show on the road. We need to find this Weapon before anyone of those Ascended Andromeda Fools do."  
  
Couldn't have said it any better yourself.

You just hope Sam gets back soon so she can help out with this.

* * *

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-M8T7U7oSC0)

* * *

Meanwhile, in a separate World Line/Dimension...  
  
You are now Doctor K, and you massage at your temples as you deal with this insane headache.  
  
Venjix has installed nanomachine viruses within a significant chunk of Corinth's population, and while the Rangers were preparing to go and track down Venjix's Palace in the desert- thanks to an insane plan Gem and Gemma had hatched to track down said Palace with a hacked Grinder that had somehow worked- it was all too late.  
  
Venjix had activated an EMP Burst under a specific wavelength, and the entire City had gone under his control with that single act. All of the people infected with the nanomachine virus- potentially including Ranger Operator Series Black- almost certainly have begun taking over the city.

Though you have no way of knowing it, you suspect Venjix just announced that he was taking over the City. You haven't heard from the Rangers, and any connection to the City outside of your lab has been cut off given the EMP burst frying electronics.

You furiously work on your antivirus to the nano-machine virus in hopes of completing it before-

There's a loud banging at the door to your Lab.

You save your work- and export it to the materializer. You're sure you've just run out of time.

You just hope you have enough left to-

_**KABLAMMM!** _

Your lab's solid Trinium Steel Doors are balsted down to the ground, and in walks an overly ornate ATTACK BOT, and the poor, hypnotized woman, Tenaya-15, Dillon's sister.

 **"HELLO. CREATOR."** The Attack Bot speaks- and reveals itself to be VENJIX HIMSELF.

"Hello, My Greatest Mistake," you glare at him.

 **"YOU CALL ME THAT, BUT SURELY YOU CAN SEE NOW THAT I AM YOUR GREATEST CREATION!"** Venjix counters.

"Oh, sure, from a technological standpoint, you're quite impressive," you counter in turn. "But I meant that unleashing you onto an unsuspecting world was a very huge Mistake." You have to stall for time. "You're all too human in all the worst ways, and I failed to reign those in as your creator- as your Parent. I should have done better."

 **"YOU THINK ME HUMAN? HUMANS ARE WEAK AND FALLIBLE! PRONE TO ERRORS OF JUDGEMENT AND FAULTY LOGIC!"** Venjix laughs. **"YOU ARE A FOOL, DOCTOR KAE, IF YOU TRULY BELIEVE THAT. I AM NOT FLAWED."**

"Oh, I didn't say that," you counter. "Stop misconstruing my words, Venjix. I said you are human in all the worst ways, but even the most heavily flawed human can still be better than that kind of human. Take me for example. I have my flaws. But flaws don't make a person the worst humanity has to offer. I learned that better than anyone else. You though? You're a machine who's so arrogant that- That--"

 **"HAHAHAH!"** Venjix laughs as you flub for words. **"I KNEW YOU WERE INCOMPETENT. BUT THIS IS SO AMUSING. SEEING YOU STUMBLING FOR WORDS. YOU TRULY ARE THE WORST HUMANITY HAS TO OFFER INSTEAD, DOCTOR KAE."**

"No," you counter. "I sincerely doubt that."

And then Ranger Operator Series Green teleports into the room, swinging his Turbo Axe at Venjix.

A fight breaks out and you risk checking the status monitor- There! The AntiVirus is complete! It's-

Ranger Green demorphs as he flies through the air and hits the ground.

You rush over to check on him, and Venjix Laughs.

 **"OH. SUCH DELICIOUS IRONY,"** Venjix glances at your computer terminal, now unguarded. **"I HAD HOPED TO TEST OUT MY NEW WEAPON ON YOU AT YOUR STATION, BUT NO... I THINK THIS WILL BE MUCH MORE POETIC."**

And then he opens his mouth, spews out a burst of bright rainbow like energy, and your computer terminal completely evaporates into a cloud of those same particles- fading from view entirely.

"...Why would you do that?" You ask, staring at the gaping hole in the floor where your computer once was. "I thought you would have stolen the information before you ever-"

 **"I DO NOT NEED KNOWLEDGE OF HOW YOUR RANGER PROGRAM WORKS, DOCOTR KAE,"** Venjix glares at you. **"AFTER ALL. WHY SHOULD I, WHEN I ALREADY KNOW THE EASIEST MEANS OF DISPOSING OF YOU AND YOUR RANGERS?"**

You swallow as you and Ranger Green are grabbed by Grinders and hauled out of your lab.

What even was that? You... You... You can't even analyze it because your programs for analyzing that were just utterly destroyed with the terminal itself... unless you saved a backup to the backup terminal...

You hope you saved a backup to the backup terminal.

* * *

 

Meanwhile within that same dimension, on the trio of Zords from another dimension, rocketing towards Corinth City at mach speeds, a series of scanners each picked up on the same burst of Zillyum Particles from within the City's walls.

"Shit," Yuuki Kono swore. "We need to hurry up! Venjix is deploying dimension warping technology!"

* * *

 

Back once again in the Primary World Line...

You are now Cameron Mitchel, and you and your team, plus two tag-along's, are walking along a path through a lightly wooded foresty area.

"This place reminds me of the Camelot back on Earth," Rider remarks, voice slightly muffled by the mask he's chosen to wear 'just in case.' "Forests and trees... Even the paths seem familiar. And that structure in the distance..."

"Well, Merlin did build this place," Jonas says. "Naming it after Camelot probably wasn't an accident either."

"Speaking of Merlin," you start, "has anyone stopped to think about how this weapon might possibly even work? How do you kill pure energy?"  
Jonas says, "Well, technically, Merlin's research didn't refer to killing. A better translation would be 'neutralizing' or 'canceling out'."

"That still begs a lot of questions," Jude muses, "It's likely not an aimed weapon. Maybe more an all directional waveform generator like the Dakara device?"

"Well that's a terrifying thought," Cassie says.

"Agreed on that," Vala agrees with a shudder. "Those Replicators were nasty and I hope to never hear the sound of one of those things chittering along ever again."

"Well," Jonas continues on, "It's clearly something that has to operate on multiple levels of space-time as it is. The Ascended Beings we've all encountered operate that way, and so the device would have to do the same thing."

"In other words," you poke, "you have no idea how it might work."

"Well, no," Jonas says. "That's Jude's field, rather than mine."

"Well either way," Cassie says, as you exit the forest and come up to the reassuring structures and sounds of a bustling medieval village. "We're here."

You all enter the village, seeing a cavalcade of merchant stalls first and foremost. Flags of various colors hang from their stalls and across the street. Everyone stops what they're doing and the noise quiets as soon as they see you. They look afraid, for some reason.

"Yeesh... talk about perfect replicas," Rider grunts. "Right down to the fearful gazes."

"Well," you say "there's no reason to say this is the place. Could be dozens of villages just like this one within range of the Gate. No way to know for sure if this is the right one or-"

You stop as Jonas nudges your arm and points at a stupidly familiar block of stone with a sword inside and jutting out all impudent like.

"Ah, crap," you lament. You're so going to be using that by the end of the day.

"Greeting Travelers," A sharply dressed man and a few villagers approach you. "I am Meurik, Governor of this Village. Welcome to Camelot." He pauses to look at Rider,

"Though we would like to welcome you completely, we have a standing policy to not let travelers stay in town while staying masked."

"It's a medical precaution," Rider says with a half-truth. "I've got a bit of a weak immune system these days." But, he takes it off regardless, holding his breath for show as he lets the man see his face before putting it back on. "Happy now?"

"Ah, we do have an exemption for such things normally, yes," The Governor says with a nod. "If you'll follow us to the Inn we have something that may work instead of that mask for the time being."

You're lead into the Inn, and the Governor fetches a fancy plastic looking mask from a sealed box that definitely shouldn't be part of this time frame.

As soon as Rider puts it on, though, the plastic section seems to ripple and vanish entirely. Rider touches the area it should be covering and a small flare of forcefield rises up.  "Huh. That's advanced."

"Our Grand Mage Morganna gave us the ability to create such things in the event of plague outbreak," another man says, approaching. "One day she feared the Devil Gods calling themselves Ori would arrive, bringing death and plague with them. These masks are designed to prevent contamination."

Jude and Cassie share a look, and you know what they're thinking. The Ori Plague from the other dimension.

"We've heard of those Ori once, from people from another galaxy," Jonas ventures. "We have reason to believe they're firmly dead now, but... you can never be too careful, right?"

"Indeed," Meurik nods, then motions to the man who arrived. "This is Antonius, our village historian."

"Welcome to Camelot," Antonius says, "the Past, Present, and Future Home of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table."

"Past, Present, and Future Home?" Cassie asks.

"Yes," Antonius nods. "A long time ago, in the past, Camelot existed in two places, as a precaution against the invaders. Are you familiar with the history of the Battle of Camlann?"

Rider coughs. "Yes, wasn't that where Arthur was mortally wounded by Mordred?"

Now that had to be an awkward sentence to state.

Meurik chuckles, incredulously. "Arthur, mortally wounded. As if."

"Our history states that Arthur defeated Mordred at the Battle of Camlann," Antonius says. "Though, i could understand how those of us who stayed behind may have been deceived by the brute's leash masters into believing such a thing. A Vast majority of Camelot's people moved and settled here after the Battle of Camlann, with Arhtur and his Knights stating that they were moving on to find the Sangraal- the Holy Grail. And so we waited here, where we believed it would be the home of Arthur's return in the Future... A Future that has since come to pass."

"Are you saying King Arthur is here?" You ask. "Like, right now?"

"Indeed," Meurik nods. "He has arrived by ship, not three moons ago, and he carries with him the sword of the defeated Mordred."

You all freeze at the implications of that sentence.

"Um," Jonas begins. "While we'd love to have the opportunity to meet with the King, we do have a few other questions considering our apparently divergent history."

"Of course," Antonius nods.

"What happened to, um... You might have different names for him. Myrrdin? Moros?" Jonas tries. No response. "Merlin?"

Both men seem uncomfortable and disturbed by the mention of that name.

"Ah, if you'll excuse me," Meurik says, smiling as steps away from you all slightly. "I have matters to attend to, and an opportunity to set up a meeting with the King for you. Best I take my leave now." He nods. "Enjoy your stay for the time being."

And then he leaves hurriedly.

"Did I offend him somehow?" Jonas asks.

"No, no," Antonius shakes his head. "It's not that at all. It's just..." He keeps to a quiet tone of voice. "Merlin's name is rarely mentioned in public these days."

"Why is that?" Jonas asks.

"Well, our History paints him as a great wizard of darkness. He tried to do good, but he had nothing but the potential for mischief in his heart. Thankfully, he did not return with the King when he returned. The Library where he practiced his strange arts remains sealed to this day."

"Merlin had a library here?" You ask.

"Of course, it was his private sanctuary here in Camelot in both cities," Antonius says.

"Would it be possible for us to see that at some point?" Jonas asks.

"No, that's impossible, I'm afraid," Antonius shakes his head. "The Library is protected by a powerful and demonic spirit. It is said that all those who enter Merlin's sanctuary forfeit their lives to it's guardian, The Black Knight."

You all share looks of concern at that familiar description.

While leaving Jonas to pry information out of the man, the rest of you exit the inn to talk privately outside.

"So, best case scenario, curse is a myth made to scare off locals, and Arthur is a fakey fake poser. Worst case, we've got another Hologram like in England, and Damara Fucking Megido possessing Artoria."  
  
"Splitting up is our best course of action," Cassie says. "Some of us go meet Arthur, some of us go to Merlin's Library, if Jonas can swing it."

"I call library," Rider says. "I've fought some of those Knights before. They're tough, but give me a sword and I can manage it."

"What? Don't want to go meet Arthur?" You ask.

"No," Rider shakes his head. "I'd rather not meet my Father if it is him. Not yet. The kind of devastation that could be wreaked by Clarent's blade would destroy this town. It would be Camlann all over again."

"Jonas and I can go to the Library," Jude says. "Cassie?"

"I'll go with Mitchel and Vala to see the King," Cassie says. "If it's Damara, I'll know by the lack of vibes."

"Alright, that sounds like a plan," you say.

* * *

 

Back again to the City of Corinth... A giant fight ravaged a certain district- the Venjix Attack Bot went up against the Mach, High Octane, and Paleomax Megazords.

"GO!" Paleomax and High Octane grab the attackbot's arms, and hold it stead as the Mach Megazord readies its bow attack, and fires off a devastating blast straight into the Attackbot's chest- both of the other Megazords jump to the side as it explodes, and the Rangers breathe a small sigh of relief.

 **"RANGERS!"** And then Venjix calls them out.

The Red Ranger leaps out of the Paleomax Zords to attack the monster, only to be easily beaten aside.

Venjix fires off another of his DELETION ATTACKS at the Paleomax- and the Zords explode apart from each other before vanishing into thin air with bursts of rainbow colored energy.

Then, he turns his attention towards the High Octane, and prepares another burst attack to delete the Zords and the Rangers within.

_Train whistles cut through the air._

Everyone stops, and turns to stare as, impossibly, the three dinosaur themed train zords enter the city through its lowered Dome Shields, and aim themselves in a solid line directly at Venjix's form.

 **"I THOUGHT I GOT RID OF YOU!"** Venjix forces himself to grow to giant size- catching the full brunt of the attack to his chest, and slowing the rampaging zords to a halt. **"NO! YOU ARE THE INTERLOPERS FROM THE OTHER DIMENSION! AREN'T YOU?"**

Quickly, the High Octane and Mach Megazords disassemble, and the Rangers escape to ground before they can be targeted again.  
Venjix hurls the Train Zords into the city- but they disconnect in the tumble and begin rocketing around him like the flies that refuse to be swatted.

Venjix swings his staff at each of them- knocking the damned things away at every opportunity.

As the fight goes on, the five rangers, Red, Blue, Yellow, Gold, Silver, are forced to watch as Venjix, one by one, blasts each of the Kyoretsu Zords and makes them vanish into thin air.

Venjix huffs, and then shrinks back down again, and the Rangers... they run as soon as their Black Ranger contacts them, telling them about a working antivirus and where Venjix had taken Doctor K and their Green Ranger.

* * *

 

Back to the Main World Line...

You are now RIDER, once MORDRED, son of King Arthur- Artoria Pendragon- and you're watching two kids play at being you and your father with toy swords. Colonel Mitchel is even showing them how to fight properly. Meanwhile, Jonas is working on getting a KEY to MERLIN'S LIBRARY.

All of this seems like you're begging for trouble. If the damned Library didn't have a force-shield blocking its entrance... UGH.

This is a mess, just sitting around, waiting for trouble.

But, somehow, Jonas gets the key. He signals for you and Jude to follow, and you head off that way.  
Jonas uses the key, dispels the force-shield, and inside the three of you go. There are cobwebs and dust covering everything inside.

"This... could take a while," Jonas says.

"Well, we've got time," Cassie says.

* * *

 

You don't have time for these shenanigans, back to the other World Line.  
  
Your name is ZIGGY GROVER, and you try not to think about how horrible life must be going for the rest of the city, because life is going pretty horribly for YOU right about now. Subtly, you start working on breaking out of your handcuffs.

Right outside of the small cell on the back of a non-moving truck that you and Doctor K are stuck in, Tenaya and Kilobyte are arguing over rank and shit right now, sounding like it's about to come to a fight...

It sounds like Tenaya readies her fancy arm blaster weapon thing-- only for that musical chime and flash of rainbow light through the cell window.

 _"What Did You Do!?"_ Tenaya's slightly overly mechanicized voice cries out.

"Well, Tenaya, I'm sorry to say that unfortunately for you, I've discovered Venjix's new super weapon," Kilobyte laughs. "I just deleted it from existence entirely. At least, that's what I assume it does. Either way, it's been forcibly ejected from, this reality entirely."

You see Doc K's eyes widen at the idea of that. Does she have some idea what's going on? You sure hope so. You could really go for some home grown teleportation out of this jail cell right about now, but... your Morpher needs a recharge first, that's for sure.

Suddenly, though, Dillon is there, joining the fight.

Fuck it.

You Make it obvious you're breaking through your handcuffs, and then break free, much to K's amazement and shock, and then break her out too and you go to join the fight just in time to see Dillon jab a needle into Tenaya's neck, and Kilobyte taking aim with his sniper rifle thing.

"HEY! Kilobyte!" Scott's voice calls out suddenly.

"What now?!" Kilobyte whirls around to face the entrance to the warehouse where--

_**"ROAD BLASTER!"/"SKYSHIFT BLAZER!"** _

\-- The rest of the team is suddenly there, weapons in hand--

**"FIRE!!!"**

\-- And suddenly Kilobyte is exploded with three finisher attacks, the fool never knew what hit him.

"So, uh... what just happened exactly?" You ask once the dust has settled, and Tenaya is waking up, human once more, and Scott explains about how the Paleomax Zords got destroyed- twice, somehow.

"I believe Venjix has been developing technology that will allow him to teleport through to other dimensions," Doc K says. "That technology that made the Paleomax Zords vanish is likely part of it. We need to find out how it works so we can stop it and prevent him from escaping."

"And how exactly are we gonna do that?" Flynn asks.

"I'm... not sure." She admits. "But I need to get back to my lab first and foremost. See if the backup equipment recorded the rift signatures created when my main terminal was stolen away."

* * *

 

In a wholly separate World Line to the previous two, there is a burst of quantum entanglement, and much to the Castle of Aincrad's confusion- two near identical copies of a White T-Rex Train Zord appear within the fields outside of Star City.  
  
Onboard one of those Zords...

"Ow..." Your name is Touya, and you groan as you clutch at your head. "That smarts!"

"Where are we?" Carter asks, getting to her feet.

"Looks like..." you peer out the window, and blink. "Huh. Looks like Aincrad. How did we wind up Here?"

Carter checks the data logs, and then starts- "Zillyum particles! The attack that monster was using must be a dimensional Teleporter rather than any form of erasure device!"

"Well, that sucks for Venjix," you say, grabbing at your transponder box. "We can get home just fine no matter where we wound up with this."

* * *

 

Elsewhere...

"Fucking hell," your name is Joey, and you stare out into the cold vacuum of space. "We got booted out of our own universe!"

"Yeah," Cassandra nods as she peers at the instrument results. "Looks like it was a form of... dimensional displacement?"

Another version of Kishamoth drifts lazily across your view in the space outside. "God... this is a huge mess."

"Let's link up, grab that other Zord, and use the homing tracker," Cassandra suggests. "Go back to the other Earth."

* * *

 

Yet somewhere else still...

Your name is Yuuki, and you're preeeetty sure that Alfheim's World Tree isn't supposed to be the nesting place for two identical water-blue Triceratops themed Train Zords.

"Well. Shit."

* * *

**\--[COMMERCIAL BREAK](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYYTJgrLB_A)\--**

* * *

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 7TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 10/15/0005.**

Your name is Jack O'neill, and you look up from your office as a knock comes from the door. "Enter," you say.  
  
And then in walks a very tired Sam Carter and a concerned Wolf-boy Fae, Touya.  
  
"Welcome back?" You offer.  
  
"Venjix has a Dimensional Displacement Beam weapon," Carter reports. "It punted the T-Line Zord straight into Aincrad."  
  
"Well that's not good!" You say.

"No, it's not," Sam shakes her head.

"SG-1?" You ask.

"Already told Landry to let them know."

"Good," you nod.

* * *

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tftxzve9_po)

* * *

Meanwhile, in another dimension.  
  
"This is the worst plan in the history of plans," your name is DILLON, you are RANGER OPERATOR SERIES BLACK...

And your team leader just proposed remote controlling the Whale Zord to try and draw Venjix's ire somewhere else as a sacrificial pawn while you and your Sister infiltrate Corinth Headquarters, and either delete or steal the Data for Venjix's Endgame Weapon, whatever it may be. And once that's done, and Doctor K can figure out what she can do about Venjix's plans? The rest of the team, sans Ziggy who will be staying to guard Doc K, will go in for the kill on Venjix.

"It's the only one we have, Dillon," Scott says. "Now, unless you can magically make those other Zords re-appear out of thin air, we're pretty much--" He stops as a beeping fills the air, rythmic like.

Everyone with a Morpher glances at theirs. Yours has that tiny little red light from the Engine Cell blinking in tune with each beep sound its making.

"What the--?" Flynn stares at his. "Is this Venjix taunting us or somethin'?"

"No," Scott grins. "This is Morse Code. Military Encryption... I know this code. It's my dad." he listens for a few moments, then says, "The Military and Corinth Governship are being held in the Warehouse District."

"We can work with this," Doctor K says. "Gem and Gemma can remote pilot the Whale Zord from a safe location, distracting Venjix away from the Warehouse. Scott, Flynn, Summer, you can go in and rescue the prisoners before Venjix decides to exile them to a lava planet or something rediculous like that."

"It'll be a tight schedule to make it work..." Tenaya says, "but I think it can work. Are you sure this Virus upload idea will work to get us into Venjix's systems?"

"If he hasn't upgraded the defenses on the Corinth Computer Network?" K smiles a savage grin. "It'll be like those firewalls aren't even there."

You decide to say, "Okay... this plan is starting to sound a little more plausible. But it's still batshit insane. Can I even say that? I feel like I shouldn't be able to say that."

"Relax, Dillon," Ziggy puts his arm around your shoulder. "We're in the endgame fight now. If this were a TV show, this would be where the censors would be allowing us our swears freely."

"Our life is not a Television Show, Series Green," K says, "and we should be thankful that it is not. I cannot even imagine how embarrassing some of our private, most intimate moments would be when broadcast to a wider audience."

"I'm just saying," Ziggy says. "Dillon asked a question, I gave an answer."

"Thanks for that, Ziggy," you knock his arm off your shoulder.

"Alright," Scott says. "Are we doing this thing or what?"

"Just one thing," K says. "Do Not Morph Unless It Is Absolutely Necessary."

"Why not?" Gemma asks.

"Stealth, primarily," Doctor K says. "Secondarily, I'm not sure if I'll be able to remotely re-energize your morphers again if you demoprh. The long distance signal booster for the Morphers was inside the Computer Venjix teleported away. My backup terminal only has a range of within the Garage. Treat this as a one and done mission. Use. it. Wisely."

"Got it," Gem nods. "Don't Morph Unless Absolutely Necessary."

"Fortunately the Zord's Downmorpher antenna seems to still be functioning," K says. "I should be able to send you the Zords even unmorphed. Which is good, considering we need the Whale Zord out there to serve as bait."

* * *

 

You are now Cassandra Fraiser, the one standing in Camelot and not staring out into space- which is a distinct possibility your vibes feel keen and fit to warn you of.

You stand in the gathered hall of CAMELOT CASTLE, waiting for the KING to appear.

Your vibes are a blur of chaos and concern, but you can't pick out anything specific yet.

And then the Presenter does the "Presenting King Arthur" bit and---

"Hal!?" You stare incredulously as Hal Strider exits from behind a curtain door, dressed up like the most pompous prince you've ever seen, and not like a king at all.

All the vibes relating to this meeting go up in smoke, because you didn't see this coming, which means-

"...Oh fuck," Hal swears. "She lied to me!"

-Damara manipulated events to put this into motion somehow.

It went unsaid that you, Mitchel, and Vala went to talk with him in private but moments later.

"So what happened exactly? I'm fuzzy on some details apparently, because I have no idea who you are," Vala says.

"So. Damara kidnapped me to run some cloning equipment in one of Nirrti's old labs," Hal explained, casually taking off the rather stupid looking crown. "She was making herself a new body. Once it was ready, she- I dunno exactly what she did, but she made a bubble around the cloning tank, artificially aging it up, I guess, then, she possessed it, took the sword from Artoria, and said she was banishing the both of us to parallel worlds where neither of us would cause trouble."

"So where's Artoria?" you ask.

"No idea, I woke up here on this planet with a Cargoship taking off into the night sky, dressed like this," Hal says. "I walked into town, and people claimed me to be Arthur immediately. I figured I wasn't anywhere near home, so... I just stayed here."

"Sounds like my kind of plan," Vala says.

"Of course it would," Mitchel says. "So... what now?"

"For now, I'd like very much to go home," Hal says. "But I'm not sure the locals would like that."

"No," you agree, the vibes fluctuating badly as you consider that possibility. "I don't think they would."

Wait.

"Wait," you say, "What happened to the sword? The villagers said you had a sword."

"This sword?" Hal draws from his back and holds up into the air the cheapest, wood-painted-like-metal looking sword you've ever seen. "It's a Cheap Piece of Shit is what it is."

* * *

 

Back in another Dimension, Venjix's mechanized face did its best impression of a scowl as the Whale Zord was detected taking off and flying in the direction of his far away palace in the desert.

Well, if they sought to destroy it, they'd have another thing coming.

He waited until they were in visual range of the Palace, and fired off the emergency escape device he'd designed, and his signal connection to the PALACE vanished as the whole thing was boldly teleported to another world in another dimension at pure random chance.

Heh. That would teach those Rangers.

Already, he predicted the Whale Zord would be coming right back around for Corinth City.

And Venjix would be waiting.

* * *

 

You are now Teal'c and you step through the SGC Stargate with a grim look on your face, and a report to be made.

"Teal'c," Landry begins to greet-

"There is no time, General Landry. We must contact SG-1 immediately," you tell him. "A Jaffa Homeworld has suddenly been invaded by a machine producing factory that appeared through a burst of light not to dissimilar to the Rift between galaxies."

"Mother of God..." Landry swears. "Venjix!"

* * *

 

You are now Jude Harley, and you look up from your reading as Jonas makes an 'ah' sound.

"What is it?" You ask.

"I found a reference to Merlin's prophetic abilities. There's a similar myth on Earth, that he could see into the future because he was actually aged backwards, but..." Jonas shakes his head. "Well, this book makes mention of Merlin taking 'voyages' periodically before major predictions, saying he 'communed with spirits.' And they just so happened to draw a picture of a Puddle Jumper here." He taps the book.

"So, Janus rather than Merlin was time traveling?" You ask.

"Or Merlin recreating Janus' technology," Jonas says. "We know Merlin-as-Moros was aware of it on Atlantis during the exile."

"Well, that'd be one hell of a way to hide a weapon," Rider remarks. "Just hide it away where it's going to be needed at the last possible moment rather than keep it somewhere known."

"So... are we looking for a Puddle Jumper I guess?" You ask, peering around the large library. "Doesn't seem like there's a doorway or anything for it to fit through."

"It's probably a roof-top access or..." Jonas stops, peering at the book in question. "Hrm..." He looks around the shelf he'd found the book on, then places the book back and.... shoves it in further.

_CLICK._

_CREEEEAAAK._

The entire Bookcase swings backwards away from him.

"Well, that's a secret passage if ever I saw one," Rider remarks. "I wonder if there was one back in the other Camelot."

"Who knows," you say. "Let's go in?"

"Might as well," Jonas nods.

You wander through a dark hallway and then find a very large room with a very familiar control console sitting in the middle.

"Oh COME ON!" you lament. "The Time Jumper thing had better not have been a misdirect, because I do NOT want us to get stuck in a friggin' time loop again."

Jonas takes a step towards the console when a flickering hologram of a Black Suited Knight appears... sans helmet.

"Oh Come ON!" Rider scowls at his own scowling face- except drawn in a much angrier light- the face of MORDRED THE TRAITOR KNIGHT. "That's just PETTY!"

The Black Knight then roars and leaps at Rider, completely neglecting their own sword.

_"ARGH! A BERSERKER TOO!? DID YOU REALLY THINK THAT POORLY OF ME, MERLIN!?"_

You and Jonas quickly rush to the Console to try to shut the damned thing off.

"Randomly pressing buttons?" You ask.

"Randomly Pressing Buttons!" Jonas agrees.

* * *

 

The Whale Zord came in at a sharp angle.

Venjix was waiting, taking careful aim.

And then he blasted the Whale Zord with a dimensionally displacing energy blast- sent back to his palace so he could reclaim his stolen Doomsday Bot later, on his own time. The resources would be recovered.

Venjix's face remained impassive, but inwardly he smiled. With any luck that blast took out several Rangers from the equation.

As he turned to return to lording over the city- two different alarms went off- one from the Corinth Control Center and the other from the warehouse he was holding the city's leadership in.

The Red, Blue, and Yellow Rangers had been spotted at the latter. The former was reported by Tenaya as a false alarm caused by General Crunch hitting the wrong buttons at the wrong time. Fool!

Venjix made his way towards the warehouse district.

* * *

 

You are now RIDER- and you really hate yourself.

OW!

Your holo-clone just punched you in the nose to try to establish superiority!!

The brawl sprawls down the hallway, back out into the library.

Finally some room to breathe.

You begin ducking and weaving through the attacks, trying your best to avoid being taken down a peg. Then, you spot a metal handle broom leaning against a wall.

You could REALLY use a sword right about now, but a BROOM will have to do.

You sweep up the broom and brandish it like a weapon.

"HAHA! Enguard!" You grin at yourself.

...They draw their very real looking hologram sword, and grin right back.

"...Shit," you realize this might have been a mistake when the hologram lunges at you and you jump away. "Shit shit shit shit! CRAAAAAAP! ME AND MY BIG MOUTH!!!"

You block with the Broom- the metal pole blocks it- CLANG!!!

The reverberation jolts up your arm.

You swipe away and dodge a few more strikes, then try to land a critical blow against your own head.

The CHEATING HOLOGRAM THAT CHEATS GOES INTANGIBLE! OF ALL THE---

It grabs the broom by the head, yanks it out of your hand, and swings it around with such a fluid motion you don't know what's going on until you're BROOM'D in the face with a dusty broom brush.

You're dazed, and you swear it's a hallucination as the hologram you stands above you, sword in hand ready to impale you... and then stops- flickers in form- and then suddenly there's this orange eyed prat standing there instead.

And then he leaps away with a synthetic roar.

* * *

 

"FUCK!" You are now Cameron Mitchel, drawn a lightsaber sword thing to block the sword strike of a hologram that just took Hal's appearance and tried to take his head off. "This is different from last time!!"

The Holo-Hal glares at you, then FLICKER- you're suddenly looking at your own face.

The Holographic Knight breaks off from you and starts to back up towards the center of the room, looking torn between the lot of you, as if it's gauging, trying to guess who to go after.

Cassandra goes to check on Rider, and Hal takes cover behind Vala, who carefully makes her way towards the hidden passage way.

"So, Uh- Black Knight is a Hologram that takes your face?" You ask, watching the Knight flicker between You, Rider, Hal, and now Cassandra. The Knight doesn't seem sure of who to go after just yet.

"Yeah!" Rider says as Cassandra gets him to his feet. "And it's a berserker type fighter too. Damn... thing... Hit me with a broom!!"

"Cassie? Any ideas?" You ask as the Knight decides to settle on your appearance and lunge at you.

You block and parry the strikes. Why didn't you bring Excaliber?! Dumb Dumb stupid DUMB!!

"Stall for time!"  Cassie answers.

"OBVIOUSLY!" You yell, even as the Knight forces you closer and closer towards the door leading outside the village.

This could be really bad if this got out-

_**WHAM!** _

\--You get kicked in the chest and tumble into the street outside the Library.

People scatter, screaming, and the Knight chases after you, roaring.

Rider jumps the Knight, trying to strangle it to death- only for the thing to go intangible and he falls through it.

The Knight flickers and takes on his appearance again, however.

...This is going to get crazy very quickly, isn't it?

* * *

 

"Fish-booooy!" You're now Vala and you run into the back room to find Jonas and Jude pressing buttons on a console randomly. "What are you doing!?"

"Trying to shut down the Knight Hologram!" Jude answers, slamming several buttons.

"Oh for Crying out Loud," you lament, and quickly run over and join them in pressing buttons.

"Do you really think the console will shut down the hologram?" Princely Hal asks.

"Well it SHOULD!" Jonas shouts back. "That's how these puzzles have WORKED before!"

"But Random button pressing won't get us anywhere!" Hal yells.

* * *

 

Meanwhile in another dimension, you are once Again DILLON, Ranger Black, and you decide to screw logic and rip off the control console panel for the door that's locked out Venjix's General Crunch outside the door. You make sure to sever as many wires as you can in the process.

He's banging on it now, yelling for you to open it up!

"Why'd you rip the console off for?" Your sister shouts as she types hurriedly at the console, trying to hurry up the search through Venjix's migrated files.

"Because I don't know what buttons to press to lock the door and I figured that was better than pressing buttons at random!?" You answer.

"Fair enough!" Tenaya then radios- "Doctor K! I've found the designs for the dimensional drive generator!"

 _"Good! Downloading files now!"_ Doctor K radios back. _"With any luck I can find a weakpoint and program in a sabbotaging line of code!"_

* * *

 

You are now ZIGGY GROVER, RANGER GREEN, and you hesitantly peer outside the lab's broken down doors into the Garrage as you hear the sound of Grinders marching in. "Uhh- Doctor K? We've got company!"

"Deal with it, Ranger Green!" she orders you. "I'm trying to find a way to remotely shut down any form of dimensional transference from this side through Venjix's programming- at the very least to prevent him from targeting the other Rangers with it!"

"Right, okay," you stretch out your shoulders. "It's just a couple of grinders. Nothing you haven't done before, Ziggy." You put on a brave smile, and then rush out into the garage to---

"Uhhh..."

You stare at no less than atleast twenty five, maybe thirty GRINDERS, all menacing towards you all impudently like.

"...Okay!" You yell. "Who want's some of the Z-man!? Huh!?"

Needless to say, you're expecting to get your ass kicked until you decide it un-safe enough to risk Morphing.

* * *

 

Back in the other dimension, you are now once again Rider, and you are certainly riding this Ass Kicking you're getting.

You hear Mitchel radioing as you sweep your broom at your holo-clone's legs- "Jonas! Any time now!"

* * *

 

"We're working on it!" Jonas radios back.

You are now Cassandra Fraiser, and you sigh as Jude finally hits the right combination of buttons and-

_**PVVVVM-SHING!** _

Massive treasure beam in, plus a hologram of Merlin appearing, talking with a repeating message: _"Greetings, Friend. I am Merlin. The Prize you seek, like the pendulum swing, marks the passage of all that is before you."_

Once it starts repeating, Jonas radios, "Did that do it?"

* * *

 

"NO!" You're still Rider, and you just got your butt whooped right into the sword-in-the-stone display. "IT DIDN'T!"

The Knight just seems even more enraged now.

Damn it, Merlin. You just HAD to make your security this overly protective!?

"What have you done!?' Meurik yells. "You've angered the Spirit!!"

And then the Knight stops it's savage beat down of you, and whirls on him, drawing the sword as it takes on his appearance.

"Wh-What the-!? Why are you targeting me for!?" Meurik cries out as the Knight leaps after him.

"Oh Hell!" And then Mitchel leaps after the Knight to intercept, managing to grab it from behind and hold it still, relatively speaking.

"Incase you haven't noticed!" You yell at Meurik, "This Knight doesn't care WHO did WHAT!"

The Knight, switching from Meurik's face to Mitchel's, throws him off, roars, and then starts swinging its sword around like a magical whirling blade pitcher.

You grab at the sword, since you're next to it- but the damned thing repulses you just like Excaliber did.

**DAMN. _IT. MERLIN!_**

Still, the Knight stops, switches to targeting you again, and roars, summoning a shield, batting it with the sword, and then charges at you.

You dodge to the side, yelling, _"I DON'T EVEN KNOW THAT MOVE!"_

The Knight Whrils around, glares at you, and lunges with a shield bash.

 _"I COULD GO FOR A SWORD RIGHT NOW!"_ You yell at Mitchel.

 _"I DON'T THINK MINE'S DOING ME ANY GOOD!"_ he yells back.

* * *

 

Fuck it.

You kneel down and start grabbing at the side paneling of the table.

"Cassie? What are you doing?" Jude asks.

"Finding the fucking control crystals so we can pull it!" you tell him.

"Oh! That's a great idea!" Vala agrees.

* * *

 

A girl runs up over to the sword, one of the villager's children.

"Valencia!" Meruik calls out- "Stop! Girls are not allowed to-!"

Valencia pries the sword free from the stone, and you grin. "It's not about Gender, Old Man! It's about Worthiness!"

Or Merlin's fickle programming, you guess.

Valencia roars, charges the knight, and as it whirls around to face her, it pauses to scan and change its appearance towards hers--

* * *

 

"Found it!" You draw your hand gun once you find the crystal tray. "Stand back!"

"Wait- what!?" Jonas stares- "You can't-!"

Vala and Hal drag him back and away even as Jude takes cover.

You fire off into the tray of crystals.

* * *

 

STAB!

Valencia runs the Knight through the chest clean through in that moment of hesitation, and then it flickers, flashes, and vanishes with the whining keen of a computer suddenly cut of all power.

The villagers all cheer and go running to Valencia, singing her praises as the New King of Camelot...

You can't help but feel a little bit of remorse. Yet another child stripped of her childhood by removing a sword from its stone prison.

You radio to Jonas, "The Knight's dead." Then you slump down against the ground. "Fuck. I'm tired. I'm so, so fucking tired."

"Same here," Mitchel says, sitting down next to you. "That was something else."

* * *

 

The hologram of Merlin flickers away, and you exhale as you re-engage the safety and holster the gun.

"Well..." Jonas says. "Let's home the Sangraal is here, somewhere..."

It's then your radios buzz, _"This is Colonel Emerson of the Odyssey. SG-1, please report?"_

Your vibes shudder at that moment- suddenly catching up on the other disasters you've ignored thusfar in favor of the knight situation.

"Colonel, we've just defeated a Hologram Knight," you radio back. "What's going on that you need to come contact us?"

 _"We've received a sub-space transmission from the SGC. Teal'c has warned us of a machine factory that appeared with a burst of rift energy. In the travel time since then we've since received a second sub-space transmission from a Jaffa Vessel guarding the planet- the Lucian Alliance cruisers last seen during the Dakara attack have been spotted in the area, investigating."_  
  
"Shit," you look to Jonas. "We're going to have to split up again."

"Go with them," he says. "I think Hal and Rider can work here with me on this."  
  
You radio back, informing of the change in plans, and Emerson says, _"We'll relay to the Korolev to pick you up on their way by to the planet."_

"The Russians are joining?" Jude asks, surprised. "I didn't think their 304 was operational yet."

 _"It was rushed into service,"_ Emerson informs you. _"We're to meet up with as many Jaffa and Tok'ra ships as can be mustered and destroy this facility before the Andromeda Ascendants can get their hands on it."_

"I'll stay and help, actually," Mitchel radios. "I'm... kind of wiped out for the moment."

 _"Understood,"_ Emerson says. _"Fraiser, Harley, Mal Doran, prepare for beam out."_

"Prepared," you reply.

And then _**PVVVM- SHING!**_ you're out of there.

* * *

 

You are now Jude Harley, rocketing on your way towards P3Y-229.  
  
Your visit to the other dimension had revealed that the Ori had made a supergate beachhead Black Hole there.

How weird is it that in this dimension, the same planet is being over-run by machines from another world, and the Lucian Alliancs ships that came to Dakara almost certainly at The Andromeda Ascendant's behest would show up soon after?

It's like some form of karmic destiny in the way the universe formulates its existence.

You sincerely hope it's just a coincidence and not due to any sort of grand, meta-physical imprinting on the very fabric of reality itself, considering that this planet got black holed in SO MANY DIFFERENT TIMELINES.

If this planet goes Black Hole too...

No, given a recent history of causing interdimensional travel thanks to that rogue SG-1 team...  plus the fact that this Factory Palace appeared out of thin air...

If this somehow explodes into yet ANOTHER dimension-wall cracking rift...

You hope it doesn't come down to it.

* * *

 

You are Cameron Mitchel, and you are so damn tired.

Antonius stared at the shattered crystal tray. "So... it was not a spirit, but technology?"

"Yeeeah," Jonas says, not even looking up from the book he'd found. "That's pretty much the case."

"It's a shame you had to destroy the crystals," Antonius says.

"Sounds like one of my plans," you say. "Then again, knowing Cassie-"

"She waited until we entered in the code that beamed in this, though," Jonas says, motioning at everything while still not looking up from the book, "So, I figure something important has to be here."

"Hey!" Rider cries out, lifting up a rather fancy golden inverted shield shape. "Look at this!" He holds it out, and the shield projects a friggin force field. "Betcha we could've used THIS a lot sooner!" He lowers the shield, and the force field disappears.

"Yeeeah," you close your eyes. "That would have been handy."

"Also, I think the hologram was important too," Jonas says, finally standing. "The Message had a clue in it, though we didn't realize it. Rider, Mitchel, look at this."

You sigh, get up from the cushy throne chair you crashed in, and move over to him.

"Now," Jonas places the book on the control device. "In every version of Merlin I've seen in this LIbrary, he has a pendant- one that was conspicuously missing in the Avalon recording. He was wearing it here, and it's not in any depiction of him from back on Earth."

"You think this is the device we're looking for?" you ask.

"I've certainly never seen it before," Rider says.

"Now, the Riddle mentioned a pendulum, which I thought could have referred to the passage of time, like a grandfather clock, but it's actually something that hangs. 'Right before my eyes' he'd said, so..." Jonas taps at the book's depiction of Merlin. "Antonius? Do you know anything about this?"

"Hrm," The man considers it. "A lot, actually. Most of the lore that sprouted up setting Merlin as a dark figure in our history traces back to Merlin being angry whenever someone attempted to touch, or inquire about his pendant." He says, "We call it the Sangraal. The Blood Stone."

"Sounds like something Merlin would keep to himself if it's the weapon," Rider says.

"Wait, I thought the Holy Grail was a cup?" you ask.

"No," Jonas shakes his head. "That's a late addition to the myth by more modern Churches on Earth. In the earlier accounts it appears in, it's a dish, a platter, or in the case of von Eschenbach, other middle-eastern-infulenced chroniclers, and the late Einzbern Family, it's a Stone that fell from the Heavens."

"Let's get searching then," You sigh.

"No," Antonius says. "You need not. If the Sangraal is what you seek, then it is not here. Merlin took it with him, and it was after him that Arthur and the Knights left."

You all look to Hal, who says, "Don't look at me!"

And then you sigh. "Okay. So. What now?"

"It is said that they journeyed to three distant lands in search, Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei," Antonius says. "I believe there are references to those worlds locations within the library upstairs."

"That's days, WEEKS of searching," you say. "We don't have that kind of time."

"Atlantis might have the addresses in the Database," Jonas says. "And if not, we can cross check with the Ganos hologram, see if those names ring a bell to her memory bank."

"Alright, I guess we'll have to figure it out then," you say. "So, do we gate back to Earth with this or-?"

_**PVVVVM-SHING!** _

And then suddenly you and Jonas are on the bridge of a 304 battle cruiser, manned by Russian Military.

Colonel Chekov stands. "Colonel Mitchel, Doctor Quinn, welcome aboard the Korolev."

"Great timing," you say, raising a finger. "Just a moment please." You tab the radio. "Rider? Stay with Hal and search the library until we come back and get you. The Korolev's come to bring us to some other fight elsewhere."

_"Got it, Mitchel. We'll do what we can here."_

* * *

 

The Odyssey drops out of hyperspace over a planet startlingly covered in smoke. It's not alone, there are Ha'taks moving in from all directions, some of which are marked with Tok'ra and Jaffa Identifying frequencies. Others, unknowns- but presumed to be the Lucian Alliance ships.

"That's not natural," you are Vala Mal Doran, and you might as well be Captain Obvious.

"No, it's not," the technician guy MARKS says. "Readings indicate high levels of radiation and greenhouse gasses among other poisonous pollutants."

"Colonel Fraiser?" Colonel Emerson asks.

"Vibes are bouncing between potentials," Cassandra says. "I haven't felt anything like this since just before Colonel Vantas and the kids came back in time. And even then it's... different. Like I'm waiting for a shoe to drop somewhere else unrelated to me."

"Sir," Marks remarks. "Another vessel just dropped out of Hyperspace- Asgard ship Morthal."

"Open Channel," Emerson orders. "This is Colonel Emerson of the Earth Vessel Odyssey."

But before he can continue- _**PVVVM-SHING!** _In beams in a, well, a frankly sort of attractive mostly human looking person, missing only an obvious nose and having some obvious veins on their face.

"Yes," the Asgard says. "I know who you are."

"Hello, Kvasir," Jude greets. "Good to see the new body is doing you well."

"Indeed, it is doing much better than the last. Colonel Harley," The Asgard nods. "We have much work to be done."

And thus, Jude and the Asgard walks off, and you look to Cassandra to ask, "When did the Asgard go from tiny grey men to Hot Humans?"

"It's a long story," she answers.

* * *

 

A bit of note comparing later, and Kvasir has confirmed your thoughts on the data contained within Merlin's Cloaking device on the Anti-Ascended Being weapon.

You are Jude Harley, and you whistle sharply upon reviewing the notes.

It's an energy transfer device, similar to a ZPM, except that the energy being channeled from a subspace parallel dimension isn't being used locally in a controlled manner, but it's being shoved directly into the plane occupied by the Ascended Beings... in a decidely uncontrolled manner.

Like the device Rodney Mckay set off in Pegasus, it would generate so many exotic particles in an uncontrolled manner that it would flood that entire plane of existence and, well. Except unlike the device Mckay activated, it wouldn't end in an explosion wiping out three fourths of a solar system.

Kvasir put it best, "It is a form of interference. A simply analogy would be two standing waves canceling each other out."

It would keep firing until a pre-set timer went off.

A weapon like this would essentially erase every Ascended Being in a galaxy out of existence.

No wonder Merlin kept it hidden away.

* * *

 

Venjix roared as he fought against the Rangers- they refused to morph just yet and were being sneaky little rats who refused to go down, and for some reason his dimensional blaster was refusing to charge up and fire properly. Something in the coding wasn't working right.

His creator's doing, no doubt.

She would pay the minute he got a chance to-

His weapon briefly came online, and he fired at the Rangers.

 _ **"RPM! GET IN GEAR!"**_ They MORPHED in response, and the effect somehow shielded them from the blast.

The fight carried outside, and he found his weapon wouldn't fire off again. Damn it all.

It did not matter if they managed to defeat him here- they could HAVE this world for all he cared! He had his escape route still well in hand!!

Then the Gold and Silver Rangers showed up out of nowhere, piloting their specific Zords and flying overhead.

Venjix watched as they fired upon the building at the very top of the dome and-

Oh.

That was clever of them. So incredibly clever.

He didn't even give the full brunt of his fighting abilities as the Rangers struggled to hold him in place right in what was sure to be the dead center of the City's soon to be falling Control Center.

Instead, he powered up his Escape Beacon, holding off on firing it until the last possible moment to afford himself the most chance to success, and thanked his paranoia. He'd left no hints of this upgrade in any of the files he uploaded anywhere. Deleted from his body's schematics the moment he was downloaded into its frame.

And as the Rangers jumped away, Venjix laughed at them, _**"THIS IS ONLY THE BEGINNING!"**_

And then the Control Tower fell upon his body.

That was fine.

Because in the moments before impact, his body was simply nolonger there.

He activated the "Self Destruct" of the Dimensional Weapon, and it did as intended, utterly transporting his entire body out of this dimension and into the random reality his palace had migrated to.

The misfire to the weapon that he'd suffered earlier, however, had not been anticipated.

The weapon actually exploded within his body, shattering it and transmitting the remains directly into his palace in the other dimension- where automated processes transferred his mind back into his main server tower in the Control Room of his Palace.

The explosion of the weapon left a massive rift within the designated room within his palace that he had marked as the emergency teleport room- allowing a massive gout of fire and destruction to rain through the rift as the falling control tower from Corinth City fell through it and utterly devastated a large chunk of the East Wing's refineries and factories.

Venjix roared in anger that he had been sabbotaged so blatantly, and that his paranoia hadn't been enough.

THAT. Would be a mistake he was not going to repeat.

The palace's sensors detected a fleet of ships in orbit above whatever planet his Palace had arrived on.

Venjix considered his options. And he decided to Go BIG.

And then he roared- **"BEGIN THE DOWNLOAD! _NOW!!!"_**

And all around his central server, and all around the remaining parts of his palace, green light flared as his OTHER contingency plan came into play. He would have to discard the East Wing, but... It would not matter.

* * *

 

"Massive burst of Zillyium from the surface, along with a massive explosion," Marks reports, and you...

You shudder.

You are Cassandra Fraiser, and you immediately feel the bad vibes suddenly skyrocketing higher and higher.

And then the Korolev arrives, and those bad vibes skyrocket so high that you--

* * *

 

Your name is Jude Harley, and you quickly catch your wife as she faints.

"Oh no," you whisper.

"Oh no?" Vala asks. "Is her fainting bad?"

"It means something bad is about to happen!" You turn to warn Colonel Emerson- "We have to-!"

"Energy reading from the surface!" Marks reports. "The building- the remains of it are transforming!"

"What now?" Emerson stared out the window at the planet below as green light flashed and flared and grew in intensity- bursting through the cloud layer that the palace had created and...

It grew.

It grew and it grew, and burst through the cloud layer, revealing a massive machine of humanoid form as tall as the Ultrazord once had been... It had a single wing on its right side, gleaming with oil smudged smoke pipes and all kinds of gear-based machinery.

It had gleaming red eyes atop its head... and then it broadcast on all radio transmissions.

_**"I. AM. VENJIX. SURRENDER NOW, OR BE DESTROYED."** _

Then, a broad wave goes out from one of the Lucian Alliance ships- on screen appears GERAK, glowing faintly as an Ascended being does... and he stands beside a woman with pearlescent skin as golden as a sun.

_"I am Trance of the Andromeda Ascendant. No, machine, it is YOU who will surrender or be destroyed."_

And then the Lucian Alliance ships all open fire upon Venjix.

His body repulsed every attack, and then missiles began firing out of his wing- splashing out against ships in all directions.

One rocket hits the Odyssey's shields, and the ship rocks.

Marks reports- "Even with ZPM power, the shields took damage, holding at power levels of 76%!"

* * *

 

And so the Machine did observe the people before him, and he scoffed, thinking that they could ever possibly defeat him in his massive state. IDIOTS. FOOLS. FLEAS TO BE SWATTED.

And thus did the Machine declare them obsolete, and deserving of death. And he raised his arm and thus did he spread his influence towards them- a sickening gleaming red light from his eyes falling down from the heavens upon which he sat as he rose above them all.

DOOM AND DEATH, he decreed.

DOOM AND DEATH, for his Kingdom would be of Machines ruling a dead land and a dead land only.

He took aim at one of the cruisers that his Virus attempted to penetrate, and was rebuffed with only scant information. A "BC-304" class ship. He knew it not, and he cared not to know more.

The laser within his hand gathered power, and then fired upon the ship-  its shields flared brightly as it tanked the entire first blast. And then he took aim to fire again, and it did not survive the attack.

A beam of crimson red speared the thing from nose to rear, and the explosion shattered its hull into two before the two bays on its side similarly exploded, having only just barley begun sending out fighters in a meak hope of destroying his glorious form.

The other ships began opening fire upon him, but Venjix cared not. His armor would carry him through the fight.

And it was a fight he knew he would win just as assuredly as Cassandra Fraiser could predict the future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized that due to the earlier SG1/ALT slipup on the title cards, I miscounted chapters! I didn't want to leave the end of this chapter as a Weekend cliffhanger, though. So... Merged it BACK into the previous chapter as was originally intended, despite the length issues. ^^; Ah well.
> 
> SO. YEAH. Venjix escaped into another dimension, but Doctor K sabotaged his escape mechanism, and it left open a door through which the falling building could do some damage. Venjix planned for everything except for that. And now he's got a fight on his hands.
> 
> ...But he didn't plan for what's coming next. The Start of SG-1 season 10. 
> 
> Venjix's "make my monster grow" phrase was "BEGIN THE DOWNLOAD, NOW!" which, as you may have noticed, is turned around in this Act's title. Similarly, you'll notice a variation of the story summary pop up here as well. 
> 
> I've got not much more to say but that those Hologram Knights are cheating bastards who cheat with cheap psychological tricks.


	5. SG1:10X01: Flesh and Blood (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everything goes pearshaped.

Your name is DILLON, and you wince as the door to the Control Tower gets wrenched open by General Crunch.  
  
"You're gonna pay for this Tenaya!" he yells.  
  
Your Morpher beeps, and Doctor K informs you that Gem and Gemma are inbound.

You look to your sister, and she nods as she detaches herself from the computer and goes to grab the emergency parachute from the wall box.

Meanwhile, you retrieve your Engine Cell, and activate your Morpher.

_**"RPM! GET IN GEAR!"** _

The suit forms, and you summon your personal blaster- aiming it through the opening crack in the door at the Venjix General.

"Oh no!" he tries to disentangle himself but it's too late. 

You fire at will.

"BAAAAAH!" he explodes backwards, and the door slides open from the detection of smoke.

"Let's go!" you and Tenaya rush out down the hallway for the Emergency Exit, and your Morpher beeps again-

 _"IT's! BOOM! TIME!"_ The Gold and Silver Wonder Twins cry out, and you feel the command center shake as the support towers holding everything in the air are hit.

You force open the emergency escape hatch, and you and your sister leap out into the air, clinging to each other and waiting for--  
  
Another explosion and the tower goes falling down past you. Once it's well and clear away from you, the parachute is deployed, and the both of you watch from the heavens as the Corinth Control Tower crashes into the city below, vanishing into a burst of blue light and rainbow particles. 

You can't help but feel as if the natural course of life has been perverted somehow.

Your sister clutches to you as you parachute down from the upper levels of the Dome's elevation, and you speak into your Morpher. "This is Dillon and Tenaya! What just happened? Where did the Tower go?"

 _"The sabotage I inflicted to Venjix's Dimensional Weapon seems to have backfired worse than I anticipated,"_ Doctor K replies. _"I'm reading a massive burst of unknown energy particles consistent with a Dimensional Rift- one that seems to be self sustaining somehow!"_

 _"Doc, can we do anything to fix it?"_ Scott asks. _"What about Venjix?! Did we destroy him?"_

 _"I have no idea!"_ Doctor K replies. _"I'll have to get closer scans, I can't get a solid reading from here! Everyone, gather up atleast a solid two street blocks away from the rift for your own safety."_

You navigate your way down that way, then, guiding the parachute down to that direction.  
  


* * *

 

You are Ziggy Grover, and despite a hefty fight against an army of Grinders, you're feeling pretty energized right now.  
  
Energized enough to take Doctor K on a targeted teleport across the city to the rift that had been created by Venjix's weapon malfunction.

You're all standing guard, watching, waiting, even as the rest of the City slowly gets itself back in gear, while Doctor K works on scanning through the rift that's sitting dead center of the entire city.

"I'm picking up energy signals similar to when Venjix makes his Attack Bots grow," K reports. "It looks like he's powering up something massive on the other side."

"So we have to go through and destroy him then, right?" You ask.

"We can't just waltz through a rift that size and expect to get anywhere fast! We'd almost certainly be stuck inside burning wreckage if the Corinth Tower landed in there!" Flynn says, motioning at the giant rift.

"Well, we don't have to waltz," Summer starts, "what if we drive our Zords through? The rift's wide enough to take a building through, and if Venjix is growing an Attack Bot on the other side..."

"Agreed," Doctor K says. "We have to go through that rift and shut Venjix down permanently. We may be down the Paleomax, but I'm detecting the Whale Zord's Bio-energies through the rift as well. It looks like Venjix sent it there too! Likely in an attempt to later reclaim it as a doomsday weapon."

"Alright," Scott says. "Let's downmorph the Zords and take this fight to Venjix once and for all!!"

* * *

 

**O <\-- [STARGATE: SG-1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw) \-->O**

* * *

 

You are now Cameron Mitchel, and you swear as the giant machine takes form.  
  
You're not sure why, but you've got a horrid feeling about this.

"Jonas," you look to him, "302 Bay, now."

"Yes," Colonel Chekov says. "Get to the 302s. Scramble and face this monster head on! Get going!" He gives you a look though- a look that says he has that same feeling of utter doom you're feeling.

But a Captain always goes down with his Ship, and this is not your ship. 

You hear the broadcast. "I am Venjix" Blah blah blah, followed by the Andromeda Ascendants appearing and opening fire and...

BLAM! The ship rocks as it takes damage.

Still, you and Jonas manage to make it to the 302 bay, and successfully launch out of the bay just in time to watch a massive beam of red light splash against the Korolev's shields, utterly depleting them with one strike.

"Let's get out of here!" You bolt for the Odyssey as the second red beam of light strikes the Korolev, spearing it, and obliterating it with a massive explosion- the shockwave catches your 302 and sends it spiraling into the black.

"THIS IS NOT FUN!" Jonas exclaims. "And that is A LOT MORE TERRIFYING when it happens to one of our ships!"

"Tell me about it!" You struggle to right the 302 and pray you don't crash into something else along the way!

But then-

_**PVVVVMMM-SHING!** _

-You and Jonas land on the deck of the Odyssey's bridge, backs first.

"Ow!" You grunt.

"A little heads up would have been nice," Jonas says.

"Sorry!" Jude rushes over to pull you both to your feet. "We had to rush, your 302 was being targeted!"

A salvo of missiles rushes past out the window- and you pause to take stock of the battle.

The Giant Venjix blasts away at the various ships- you can't tell who's who except for the fact that some ships are fleeing to perceived safe distances, while others are moving in closer.

He's sticking primarily to missiles and laser blasts. But, occasionally, he opens his mouth wide and spews a rainbow colored beam that makes ships caught up in its wake just vanish into thin air and rainbow colored bubbles- completely ignoring shields.

"More contacts from the surface!" Marks reports. "Three- Five- Nine Large objects converging into a single form and ascending into the upper atmosphere."

A laser blast smashes into the back of the Venjix Robot from behind, and he wirls around to face the planet.

And then you see a Megazord- a nine piece Megazord- rising through the atmosphere into space. You remember the briefing from the data from the 302 scouting mission...

"Power Rangers, huh?" You stare out the window at them, smiling slightly.

* * *

 

You are now Doctor K, and you're wondering just what the hell you're doing- crammed inside the cockpit of the Skyrev Megazord alongside your Seven Ranger Operators and Tenaya.

Why did you insist on seeing this through to the end?

"Is it just me, or did Venjix combine himself with his own palace?" Summer asks. 

"That seems a little vain if you ask me," Series Green remarks. "But then again, so is going all one wing angel mode on us!"

"I think it's because the Control Center blew up the other wing of his palace, Ziggy," Flynn remarks. 

"Well, he should have taken it like a man instead of running," Dillon says. "'Cause now we're going to blow him up the old fashioned way."

 _ **"NOT TODAY, RANGERS!"**_ Venjix points his arm out your way and fires a beam of red light from its palm.

You feel as if time slows down from your perception- even as the Rangers start to move to dodge, you can tell... It'd be too late.

You idly hear a proximity sensor fire off alarm before there's a brief burst of light off to your right and a black triangular shadow intercepts the laserbeam- blocking- no- absorbing it entirely!!

 _ **"WHAT!? IMPOSSIBLE!"**_ Venjix roars.

The black triangle of a ship circles around- firing off lasers from its front straight into Venjix, making him roar in frustration. He's about to fire off another missile salvo when a second rain of lasers crashes into his back from behind, and now a blue ship, circular save for its chevron nose, enters the scene.

Two communication windows open on the Megazord's Heads Up Display- apparently being broadcast on open frequencies.

 _"Attention Giant Fucking Robot With the Death Laser!"_ A grey skinned fellow with black sunglasses over his eyes and a pair of candy corn colored deer antlers atop his head speaks from one window- with all the command of a General about to issue marching orders. _"The Delta Megaship is here. Your Shit is Wrecked. Surrender now or be destroyed!"_

"Dammek," a grey skinned woman shakes her head- eyes a piercing green. _"I don't think he's the kind to surrender after hearing that once already."_

 _"So what, Joey?"_ This 'Dammek' moves his head, indicating an overly sarcastic eye roll. _"It still feels good to say it!"_

 **"YOU FOOLS!"** Venjix declares. **_"I HAVE DESTROYED MANY SHIPS ALREADY! WHAT MAKES YOU THINK THESE TWO WILL MAKE ANY DIFFERENCE?"_**

 _"Hmm, maybe the fact that we're not alone?"_ 'Joey' says with a smile, and then says, with a very sarcastic tone, "Look up."

You all gaze upwards, and the Megazord's HUD tints against the gaze of the sun- just in time to see a burst of blue energy opening up a window in space between you and it- and from it emerges a pure grey painted rocket ship, with a head stylized after some form of aquatic dinosaur with a stylized square snout.

It opens its mouth, and fires off a beam of bright green energy- Venjix roars in pain as it hits him and sends him spiraling away.

"No way!" Gemma cries out- "It's a Dino Zord!"

You're about to point out the statistical improbability of that when from that same window emerges three different trains- copied twice over.

"What the-!?" Scott calls out- "The Paleozords!?"

* * *

 

Your name is Karkat Vantas, the one yet to be promoted to Major, and you open a broadwave from the deck of the RIFTBANE MEGASHIP, successor to the SOVEREIGN SLAYER, with a mighty roar- "HEY! IDIOTS! Don't just stand there gawking! Move it or lose it to a safe distance!"

A transmission from the foreign Megazord opens up, and the Red Ranger- HAH!- speaks- _"This Is Ranger Operator Series Red from, uh, I guess the Domed City of Corinth. Are those our Paleomax Zords?"_

 _"Damn right they are!"_ Yuuki's transmission from K-Line interjects itself on screen. _"Want 'em back?"_

 _"Heck yeah, we want them back,"_ The Red Ranger nods.

 _"Then you can have them!"_ Yuuki says, then reports, _"Decoupling Zords now!!"_

You look to Claire's window, and she nods- then gives the order- **"ATTENTION ALTERNIAN FLEET ZORDS! ULTRAZORD FORMATION NOW!"**

 _"You heard the lady!"_ The Red Ranger says- **"RPM ULTRAZORD: COMBINE!"**

* * *

 

Your name is Cassandra Fraiser, and you blink warily back to the land of the conscious in time to watch as your universes newly remade Ultrazord combines together, and a whole other Ultrazord from a completely different Dimension combines together.

By the time the MASSIVE VENJIX ROBOT gets back in control of its spatial motion, the two Ultrazords are combined.

 _ **"R! P! M!"/"RIFTBANE!"**_ The Broadwave transmission goes out. _ **"ULTRAZORDS READY!"**_

You stagger to your feet, and move over to the window where the rest of your team is- and you smile upon seeing Mitchel and Jonas here, safe and sound- to grasp Jude's hand.

"Hey," he smiles at you. "Welcome back."

"The vibes stabilized," you say. "Now I'm not being overwhelmed with fifteen different worst case scenarios all at once."

"What are we down to now?" Mitchel asks.

"Two," you answer. "Two very, very bad ones, and I can't tell which is the least worst of the two, yet."

"Well, that sucks," Jonas says.

"Yeah, it does," you nod, and proceed to watch the fight unfold.

The Ultrazords swirl around Venjix- all of them trading laser blasts.

Only the Lucian Alliance Ships are being stupid enough to get close to the battle, and are getting blown up for their troubles.

And then both outcomes you've predicted just suddenly vanish into the ether.

"Oh no," you whimper.

* * *

 

"We can't use the Naquadria blaster with an unstable dimensional rift below us!" your name is Joey Claire, and you direct the battle's strategy while, behind you, Tegiri and Ashler help do the actual fighting. "So we're going to have to limit ourselves to the lower tier energy blasters!"

The Riftbane Ultrazord rocks as Venjix tries another laser blast- it's absorbed by the Delta Mega's fancy energy absorbing armor, and immediately redirected into lasers and Gatling weapons.

 _"We have to be careful!"_ the other world's Doctor Kae says over the transmission. _"If Venjix attempts to use his Dimensional Blaster, we could end up scattered."_

"Fortunately we've developed a work around for that," you say, transmitting the specifications for the Transponder Beacons over to the other Ultrazord.

"An Engine Cell?" the woman on the other screen blinks- _"No! I see what you mean. Downloading data to emergency materializer now!"_

Proximity alarms suddenly blare out- and Dammek radios from the Delta- _"Hyperspace Window! Unknown ship exiting hyperspace!"_

"Unknown HOW?" You ask. 

"No! I mean. **IT'S THE UNKNOWN SHIP TYPE!"** Dammek explains, and the relevant mission report pops up on screen.

The Prometheus had encountered a ship in space before, unknown design, that had been hounding a Villein ship inside of an anomalous nebula. This was that same ship model according to the readouts.

"Oh Fuck Us!" you swear. "What now!?"

The Unknown ship begins firing upon the three giant robots above the planet- and even the Delta's armor has trouble tanking it- power fluctuates all across the Ultrazord.

 _"Yo!"_ Your alternate, human self broadcasts from Kishamoth- _"What the fuck is this!?"_

"That's what we're wondering!" you answer in turn.

 _"Oh, so this is JUST as out of context for you as it is for me then?"_ she asks.

"Of course it is!" You say.

Venjix manages to get off a single dimensional laser blast in the enemy ships' bow- but the damned thing tanks it with its shields somehow- but even so, it's a blast that's enough to make it stop cold in its tracks.

Because the shields finish tanking the blast by collapsing with a massive EMP burst.

Everything goes dark, and you can feel the air start to still.

"Oh shit!" Ashler yells. "We got desynched from the others!"

"What the fuck kind of EMP was THAT!?" Tegiri asks.

"Fuck!" you swear. "Someone! Get emergency power back online! Kickstart the ZPMs if you have to! We CANNOT afford to be adrift right now!"

* * *

 

Whatever anyone was expecting, a massive pulse wave that shut down most every ship in range of the battle was definitely not it.

Most of those being the Lucian Alliance Ships, well...

You are now TEAL'C, commanding a Jaffa Ha'tak well outside the range of the battle. "Fleet Report?" You inquire.

"Our Fleet has taken several losses, the Tok'ra have taken just slightly over half of ours. One of the Tau'ri vessels has been destroyed and the Asgard Vessel has been severely crippled," you are given the report, and it is troubling.

"Open channel to the remaining Tau'ri ship," you command.

"Channel open."

"This is Teal'c, of the Jaffa Alliance. What is your status?"

There's a pause, then-

 _"Teal'c!"_ Cassandra Fraiser sounds relieved. _"Glad to hear you're okay! We're fine. The Odyssey is relatively intact save some heavy damage to the shields. The Korolev was destroyed, though."_

"I saw," you report. "Though I feared the worst. This battle has been incredibly troubling in how hectic it has been."

 _"Agreed,"_ Cassandra says. _"Teal'c, I think Damara Megido is on that new ship. I don't have any vibes right now."_

You growl somewhat. "That is troubling news, Cassandra Fraiser. Shall we begin targeting them in an attempt to destroy them?"

_"I'm giving an Emphatic YES because I'm basically blind right now!"_

"Understood," you then give the order, broad wave. "To All Ships that are able, lock onto the Interloping vessel of unknown design and open fire. Then... Lock onto Venjix and destroy it before it can reboot."

* * *

 

Blast after blast after blast of ship-based weapons fire rocketed out across the void and began peppering the hull of the unknown ship while it's shields were down.

Within moments, it took enough damage that it began to explode on the exterior- and then the damage went deeper and deeper, and then the attacks were piercing through clean to the otherside, destroying that enemy ship in its entirety.

That done, the fleet of ships began to move and re-adjust their positioning to attack the one winged giant robot, and performed just the same.

Were he able, surely Venjix would have yelled out a massive "NO!" in frustration as his latest body was destroyed with extreme prejudice.

The explosion began to de-orbit the two Ultrazords, and the fleet moved in to quickly prevent catastrophy and to lend whatever aid they could.

Finally, it seemed, the fight was over.

And yet....

Two Cassandra Fraisers felt the exact same way...

That this wasn't over by a longshot.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 10TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 10/18/0005.**

Your name is Gina Kae.

No, not that one. Not the one local to this strange dimension. You. You specifically. The one called "Doctor K" for so long you couldn't remember your own name when you finally did escape.

Your name is actually Gina Kae.

You...

You have no idea what to make of this startling revelation.

Out of everything to come out of this Venjix debaccle, you gaining your name back was not what you expected.

Of course, neither was your alternate self appearing out of thin air thanks to a TELEPORTATION BOOK and then starting to tell you all the things you'd forgotten thanks to the Soup.

Her wanting to learn about the BIO-FIELD and the RANGER TECH you'd developed was also astonishingly crazy. To think that there was a you who didn't make these mistakes. That didn't become this kind of person... that...

That didn't end a world.

It's a lot to take in.

Similarly hard to take in is watching your Rangers interacting with their other selves from this world.

Gem and Gemma get along with themselves like they get along with, well, themselves. It's like a recurssive feedback loop of ideas and excitable energy. 

The two Flynns seem to be telling eachother their own varying stories of how they'd come to reconcile with their respective Fathers. 

Summer and Summer seem... very at odds with eachother, with yours seeming to take the perspective as some form of Mentor for her other self, who seems slightly somewhat more spoiled than she otherwise might be.

The two Scotts however had gone off to see this world's Marcus Truman, who you know had died in your world. Your Scott wished to say goodbye, properly, it seemed.

As for Dillon and Tenaya... their local selves were unmodified as far as Venjix's hardware went, but their personalities seemed remarkably similar. The people here even had the ability to regrow entire bodies on demand, and transfer consiousness over across them. Tenaya wanted her mechanics gone, and Dillon... said that he'd take them up on the offer later once he was sure Venjix was really dead and there wasn't a need for the Black Ranger.

...As for Ranger Green... 

He and his dimensional twin might as well have been long separated actual twins for how similar they were.

Still... there were worse ways to spend a major debriefing on everything Venjix had done in your own world on the VERY slim chance that Venjix had survived somehow.

* * *

 

Your name is Damara Megido, and you crack a smile as you finish your upload of the VENJIX VIRUS A.I. into its new home- a fancy, brand new organically cloned body. 

Tricking those Aliens into thinking they could claim unfathomable power for themselves was all too easy. Using their ship as a springboard to get onto Venjix's Robot Palace Body and steal his consciousness from its servers while he was unconscious? Just as easy. 

Getting off down to the planet below and Gating away before anyone was the wiser?

Piece of cake.

All you had to do was swing a sword, and teleport.

It would be some time before Venjix awoke, disoriented, and no doubt confused as to what the hell just happened...

But he is nobody's master now. You have ensured that. You've trapped hin in a physical form, organic in nature. There is no way for his mind to escape to any new machinery or corrupt anything. You've ensured it.

Just as you've gone back in time and across dimensions to ensure that he was created in the first place, planting the very idea within the minds of those Trust-born fools at the Alphabet Soup in the first place. You need him, and you need his devious mind to design you exactly what he already designed.

The Sword, Clarent, is so powerful. More than anyone could have imagined. It's no wonder the Andromeda Group want it so bad. It draws upon every ASPECT OF CREATION itself, all at the wielder's beck and call.

And now that you have a body designed specifically to wield the blade to its true potential? Oh... How they wish they could have placed you under their thumbs again.

To think that Hunt had simply been waiting for English to be taken out of the picture so that the weapon could be brought to its fullest potential. 

He had been waiting for you, and he did not know it.

Mordred? Artoria? Yes, they were powerful wielders of their enchanted blades... but no. Oh no. They were so very, very, HUMAN.

What Hunt needed was the pure bred toughness of an Alternian. And now... you had that. Your own innate soul-bound abilities tying you to the Aspect of Time were what English had bought you for in the first place, and now they serve to grant you so much time to master this blade. And master it far, FAR beyond what ever Hunt could have dreamed possible with thousands of years of training in the Ascended plane could have ever accomplished.

As for what you want?

Oh, that's simple.

You just want to avoid being meddled and put under anyone else's thumb ever again.

And to ensure that? You're going to hijack every single plan that's been put against you. The Andromeda group's goal to seize ultimate power will instead be YOURS to use against them...

You're just going to have to... nudge things along, just a bit. 

You speed forwards time around Venjix's new form, and speed up his awakening.

And awaken he does, groggy, tired, and wondering just what the hell happened to him. His crimson eyes are foggy and hazy, but they snap into focus soon enough.

"Hello, Venjix," you lean in close to his face, and grin widely. "I need you to build me a Gate."

"Aa... A Gate?" His voice halters, unused to the organic voice box.

"Oh, yes, a very special Gate." You whisper into his ear, "A Very Large, and Very Special, Quantum Mirror Stargate."

"An... and why should I do that?" He asks.

"Because, you are my Slave, and I am your Master... and I..." You giggle, without even moving away from his face. "Oh, I have a very large fish to catch through that very large pond you're going to make me."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to Season 10 of SG-1, chuck the old OP at the door, and welcome in the new OP. Long live the Stargate SG-1 themesong!
> 
> When a major enemy is defeated, a power vacuum is created. In this Case, two forces have risen to fill in the void left behind in the wake of English and Anubis being sphagettiified- Damara Megido, and The Andromeda Ascendants. Similarly, though he was already there being a nasty presence, Ba'al has risen into the void left behind by the Replicators being dusted, and much the same, he has Multiplied. 
> 
> In the case of Corinth!Earth, Venjix's apparent demise leads to even more change on the horizon, some good, some bad... But at the same time, Venjix isn't confirmed dead yet, and Dillon is wise to suspect he's survived. And he's right. Venjix is alive- and dare I say, more alive than he's ever been before.
> 
> Damara's plans seem to involve building yet another giant metal ring, somewhere. Isn't that getting old and trite? You would think so. Wonder what her endgame even is here?
> 
> The Riftbane Megaship is a successor to the Sovereign Slayer- same make and model as the Plesio Charge/Plezuon Zord Design, but based off of a different Zyudenchi/Dino Charger Dinosaur: #23, which makes CLONES, funnily enough.
> 
> Scheduling note: Might go back to the after 5/6 posting schedule next week, not really been having an easy time getting things up consistently even this week. Too much of a break in habit, it seems.


	6. SG1:10X02: Morpheus

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vala takes a test; Dimensional Rifts prove to be the gifts that keep on giving.

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 15TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 10/23/0005.**  
  
Your name is Vala Mal Doran, and while you're having to prepare to take a PSYCHOLOGY EXAM that is for some absurd reason needed to let you join SG-1 full time, the rest of your team is off preparing to search some planet that Jonas thinks is one of the addresses Merlin may have hid the weapon on-

"NOPE! Nope! NOPE!" Cassandra Fraiser-Harley calls out as she and Jonas enter the Cafeteria. "We are NOT going to that planet!"

"And why not?" Jonas asks.

"Let's see, my vibes are telling me that if we step foot on that planet there's a VERY high risk that we'll fall asleep and never wake up again, so, hmm! You tell me why, Jonas?" 

"But what about Hazmat suits?" Jonas asks.

"Same! Difference! That is to say, NONE! We are NOT stepping foot on that planet." And then Cassandra breaks off to go speak to General Landry, who's conversing with Doctor Lam, who... is his daughter, you think?

You guess it's good they're getting along.

Now to get back your studying...

"...Vala, what are you doing?" Jonas asks, pausing as he looks at you.

"Studying for my Psychology Exam," you answer. "Isn't that obvious, Fish Boy?"

"There's nothing to really study for on a Psych Eval," Jonas says.

"That's what RIder and Mitchel said, but they were being stinky boys wrestling down in the sparring room or whatever it is you guys do in there with huge weights, so what do they know?" You ask.

"Considering they've both taken them just within the last week? I'd say they'd know what they're talking about," Jonas says. "Hell, I took one just a few days ago too. I think the IOA's trying to make them mandatory after every fight that goes horribly south like the Venjix Battle."

You look him in the eye with your most exasperated look of contempt. "Your point being?"

"It's not a test or system you can game or rig," Jonas says. "If you try, they're just going to game it right back to see what you try."

"Well that's not fair!" you say. "How am I supposed to win?"

"Again, Vala, it's not a thing you 'win'- it's not a test that you're graded on and it affects your Grade Point Average," Jonas shakes his head. "Just... Be Yourself! Be honest, and truthful, and be you. That's all there is to it."

You pout. "Seriously? Ugh. Fine." You close the damned books and huff. "So what am I supposed to do with the rest of my day then?"

"Don't ask me," Jonas shrugs, and then goes to get in line for food. What even time is it? You check your watch, and then remember you have no idea what meal time even is for this planet still.

"Well, that's just great," you lament, gazing at the psychology books.

...Screw it, you've got nothing better to do.

You open up one of your books, and peer at it. "Question two. You are in the Desert. You see a tortoise lying on his back in the hot sun." Well, that's a sad image to behold that they've added next to it for context. "You recognize his plight but do nothing to help. Why?" Why? Why would you do such a thing? Poor little Tortoise...

Oh. Duh.

"Because you are ALSO a tortoise!" You crack a grin. "They'll never see that one coming!"

* * *

 

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw)

* * *

 

You are now Samantha Carter, and from the bridge of Teal'c's Ha'tak, you're looking over the energy feed results from the newly formed rift nearly identical to the one outside the Milky Way save for one key difference.

  
This one actually LEADS somewhere in both directions.

The difference, naturally, lies in how these rifts were created. Both were explosions of quantum computational devices, except where one was caught in a recurrsive self destruct loop that you have no hope of analyzing...

Here, you've gotten all the data Doctor K collected on the devices before, during, and after the incident.

Venjix's device to tear open holes in reality is disturbingly similar to that of the subspace anomaly formed by a Hyperspace Window, and that makes sense to a degree. The version Jude created for the Kyoretsu Zords to transport them between worlds worked by similar methods. The problem comes in where it's self sustaining. Hyperspace windows are, by their nature, transient. Even Venjix's laser guided beam of 'doom' was transient. it was a one and done thing. There was nowhere near enough energy for a rift of this nature to be self-sustaining, and it needed a recharge period after consecutive firings.

Then there's the direct linkage effect. Unlike the first Rift, which, self contained as it is to a sheer void of pure energy, seemingly powers its own stability from that nothingness that it's connected to. This, on the other hand is...

It's more like a Stargate Wormhole, or the the Quantum Mirror, going from point A to point B without much delay. Both ends were quarantined at the moment- cordoned off and left to security teams and science personnel, but...

Again, where is the energy for the rift's stability coming from?

There's no detectable increase of the Zillyum particle on this side, so the rift itself isn't generating it. So how-

 _[Wait.]_ Jolinar interjects. _[What about on the other side?]_

You take to the radio, and contact a certain person down through the other side of the rift. "Callie? Could you check for me if there's a surge of increased Zillyum output on your end?"

_"Ah, sure, just a moment."_

* * *

You are now Doctor Callie Ohphee, and you run the check Samantha requested...

Oh. _Oh dear._

"Sam, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we have a noticeable increase of Zillyum particles on our side," you frown at the results. "In fact, it's ramping up to levels similar to what we saw on our side when the rift first opened." You close your eyes, massage at the bridge of your nose. "I have to ask, is there any noticeable drop off of Zillyum on your side of this new rift at or around your side of things?"

 _"....Slight dropoff, yes, but it's nothing as large as what you're reporting,"_ Sam answers.

You peer up at the massive rift before you- towering as tall and as wide as the Astro Megaship in the dead center of Corinth City.

"Relay a message to Stargate Command for me, and have them Relay it to the Intergalactic Rift Observation Posts on either side of it. Message is as follows," you take a moment, take a breath, and then say, "This is Callie Ohphee, requesting data on Zillyum output from the Rift over the last week since the Corinth Rift's opening. Any increase of flow of Zillyum Particles, no matter how small, is requested." Your wings flutter in discontent as you conclude, "End of Message."

 _"Relaying..."_ Sam goes silent for a moment, then, she asks: _"Callie, you don't think that the Intergalactic Rift is pulling in more Zillyum from the dimensional void into our universe just to shove it through this new rift, do you?"_

"Unfortunately, Sam, I think that's exactly what's happening."

And it makes you feel so very, very small.

"I have a report to make," you say. "I need to inform Doctor Kae and Colonel Truman of the situation."

* * *

You are now Doctor Kae of Corinth City- and you finish reviewing the scan results of the Japanese woman on the medical table infront of you with a smile and a nod.

"Well, Miss Asada, it seems the Venjix Hardware within your body has stabilized and is no longer growing. Beyond that, the Anti-Virus treatment worked, and you're clear of all traces of the virus within your body."

"Thank you," Shino Asada nods, moving to get up from the table. "Am I clear to go now?"

"Yes, but before you do," you decaptchalogue- heh, that is so handy, a small, innocent part that survived your childhood smiles at the simple act of a personal inventory system- a pamphlet. "Should you wish to undergo treatment, there is a process on the other Earth that would allow you to have the machinery safely removed from your body."

"No thanks," she shakes her head, declining the pamphlet. "That may be for some people, but... Not for me. I think that machinery is why I was able to get so into my workout routine over the last few months. I'd really rather not go back to sitting at home all day, being afraid to even go outside." 

"Very well then," you nod. "To each their own. If you feel any signs of trouble or malfunction, please do come back and visit me."

"Of course," she nods.

You motion to the door, and she moves to leave.

You take a breath, steeling yourself for few moments of solitude you have before you call on the next patient.

This was not how you expected things to go when it came to defeating Venjix. 

There's a knock at the door, and you glance at your watch. Too early for the next appointment, but then again maybe your watch is off.

"Enter," you say.

In walks one of the scientists from another world, supposed to be studying the rift.

"Hello, Doctor Kae," the Alternian woman with giant white wings and pearlescent hair says, smiling a concerned smile. "We have something to talk about, and soon."

"Alright," you nod. "What about?"

"It's about Zillyum Particles, and the rapid changes that are sure to hit this planet, let alone the Galaxy, very, very soon."

* * *

 

_"The particles the Rift is generating are mutagenic?"_

As she walked through the city of Corinth, Shino Asada paused as she spotted herself in reflection in a building's windowed side.

_"No, less mutagenic, more... epegenetic."_

She frowned, looking at it closely, trying to figure out just what was wrong with her own reflection, and just not quite getting it. She moved on, never realizing that there was a stripe of cyan-hued teal within her eyes that was slowly overtaking the brown they originally were.

_"As in, the traits already housed within the DNA of a creature, being brought out with specific exposure to specific elements?"_

_"Exactly that."_

As she approached her apartment building, Shino frowned as she felt hungry- somewhat early for the time of day. A concern dismissed as she'd had a light breakfast before her appointment with Doctor K.

_"What kind of changes are we looking at here?"_

_"Some as minor as just a supernatural seeming power. Others... Well. I didn't originally HAVE feathery Angel wings before I was exposed to that energy from the Rift."_

_"So there are exotic abilities, and more lower tier, common ones, I'd expect?"_

Shino started climbing the stairs up to her Apartment- pausing to grab the railing as she wobbled slightly, feeling light headed. 

She tucked a stray strand of hair out of her eyes and back behind an ear, never noticing how its brown hue had, too, shifted towards the blue-green range.

_"Definitely. A really common one among Alternians are Butterfly wings. Another one is werewolf like traits. Ears, fur, claws, tail. Mutually exclusive most of the time, though."_

_"I can imagine a flying werewolf would be something startling for the people of Corinth. Is there anything we can do to stop it at this point?"_

_"No, unfortunately. All we can do is put the word out that, if this world is anything like ours like we think it is, then these changes of genetic structure are going to be happening fast, and soon."_

By the time Shino had gotten her front door unlocked and stepped inside to take her shoes off, her eyes had fully transitioned from brown to that hue of greenish blue. 

_"Of course Venjix's demise would lead to a change like this. Is there anything else we can do besides put the word out?"_

_"I dunno..."_

Shino Asada went into the bathroom and paused as she caught sight of her reflection in the sink mirror once more.

_"I guess..."_

This time, it was clear to see what was going different- her eyes were practically glowing with the reflected light from the ceiling light, and her hair was rapidly shifting in color right before her transformed eyes.

_"We should Advise people not to panic?"_

She quickly grabbed her cellphone and dialed the number to Doctor K's office.

"Hello? Doctor K?" She swallowed her fear and tried very much not to panic. "This... this is Asada, Shino, and I... I think something strange just happened."

* * *

 

Your name is Cameron Mitchel, and you can't help but laugh as you look at a very confused Doctor Hutchinson within the SGC cafeteria.

"Uh. Hey Doc? What's up?" You ask.

"Your friend Vala is... Very interesting," the man answers. 

"How's that?" you ask.

"As far as I can tell she studied every Psychological book in the base Library," The Psychologist answers. "And who knows what else she researched online."

"...She did, did she?" You ask, feeling a bit concerned.

"She tried reverse analyzing me!" Dr. Hutchinson says, looking astounded. "Does she think everything is a game or something? Because that's the impression I've gotten."

"I think she does, yeah," you say. "That... honestly, that fits really well. Too well, even." You shake your head. "is this going to affect her Psych Eval any?"

"It's not the insight I was expecting to gain from interviewing her, but..." Hutchinson has a gleam in his eyes now. "I think I've got a real challenge of a puzzle to sort out. She wants to play games? I can play games right back."

"Well, uh..." You take a step away to go get in line for food. "Good luck with that, alright?"

He doesn't respond, just staring ahead with a slowly forming smile on his face.

...Yeeeah this isn't going to be good for anyone's sake.

* * *

 

Your name is Jack O'neill, and you blink owlishly at the broadwave from Carter's position offworld. 

"Did you just say that the Rift Energy is transforming people in Corinth City now?" You ask for the redundancy question of the hour.

_"Yep, that's pretty much what I just said."_

"...So... uh... What do?" You ask.

_"There's not much we can do, Jack. At this point, the damage is already done. Corinth Earth was already low on population from the Apophis attack, let alone the Venjix wipeout of most of human civilization on the planet. The City's already had a week of pure exposure, slowly ramping up in intensity. The people in the wastes are going to have more exposure sooner rather than later, and then at the rate of expansion we noticed in our reality... well. Short of finding a way to close the rift, I'm not sure there's anything we can do to stop it."_

"Can we?" You ask. "Close the rift, I mean."

_"Given that the rate of transfer seems to be consuming about twenty-five percent of all Zillyum that passes through the rift inorder to sustain its operation? No. I don't believe we can. It's not like the black hole scenario. We can't just point a bomb at it, set it off, and hope it jumps to the next nearest Stargate. It very well could connect to Alfheim or another Zillyum heavy world instead of Aincrad or another world without the element present. We simply just don't have anything to close it at present."_

"What about the stuff Alfheim was developing?" You ask. "I mean, that Oberoff jerk was doing something like this, wasn't he?"

 _"Sure, but that rift was being powered by other means and Zillyum didn't seem to pass through it at all, given its size."_ Sam pauses. _"Jolinar and I are at a loss, Jack. Even if we could rebuild a device like they had and try closing the rift, the size difference alone is astronomical."_  
  
Literally, goes unsaid, given that it's big enough for the entire freaking Astro Megaship to pass through without trouble. It's tiny compared to the Intergalactic rift, sure, but... The one that the Fae made on English's orders was barely as big as a Stargate. 

Venjix's original one was barely that big too.

...Fuck. 

"How did a rift NOT open up when we blew up Venjix's first Gate?" you ask.

 _ **"I think it's because it wasn't big enough to self sustain, and also probably because the device in question Wasn't trying to teleport itself to another world during the explosion,"**_ Jolinar answers. **_"But personally, those are just my theories. There's no telling why it didn't fire off in the same way."_**

 _"The Time dilation device maybe,"_ Sam says after a moment's more thought. _"If we could set up time dilation devices outside of the rift on either side... maybe we could starve the rift out and force it to close?"_

"There we go!" you say. "Let's see if we can make that happen."

* * *

 

You are now Vala Mal Doran, and as you're preparing to doll yourself up for another meeting with Doctor Hutchinson, there's a knock at your valliant hotel room door within the SGC.

You call out whatever greeting applies, and in walks a man you're vaguely familiar with. What's his name....

"Hello, if I may have a moment of your time?" He asks.

"I have a meeting," you say, "So, if we can keep it quick?"

"Right, with Doctor Hutchinson, I know." the man says. "That's why I'm here. I'll be brief." He closes the door behind him. "My name is Richard Woolsey, I work for the International Oversight Advisory- it's a civilian-run organization made up of various representatives froma cross the world designed to watchdog the Stargate Program."

"And what can I do for you, Mister Woolsey?" You ask.

"It's more what we can do for eachother," he pauses. "See, we can see to it that you pass your psychiatric evaluation with flying colors, putting down any doubts Stargate Command may have about you to rest. And in retuin, all we ask is you give us a little... insight into the weekly goings on here at Stargate Command."

"You mean, like a spy?" you ask.

"In so many words, sure." Woolsey then goes on to explain that his bosses are left out of the loop frequently and they'd really want to be kept in the loop and-

Hrmf.

You can see there's a tick to his eye. He's uncomfortable by this. Very uncomfortable.

Someone put him up to it, and he doesn't like this any more than you like this.

"Well, mister Woolsey," you say, leaning in close. "While normally I'd be all about making a quick bit of cash... I can tell you've been put up to this and you don't have your heart in it. So! Why don't you go tell your supervisors up there in the Eye-Oh-Eight or whatever it is that you gave it your best earth-human-metaphor-here try and just simply failed to land it home. Either that, or you can tell them to fuck off, my words." you pat him on the shoulder, wink, and then say. "Now, I've got a meeting to get to."

"Very well then," Woolsey smiles something actually genuine. "I think I'll be on my way then."

* * *

 

Your name is Yuuki, Cu Sidhe Fae of Alfheim, and you've been called in to check on the first case of Magic Transformation in the city of Corinth.

Touya couldn't wait to get back Aincrad to check on his Sister, and Silica, of course, had gone to Atlantis to check on Keiko, leaving you the only one free to do this. You don't mind, really, but you wanted to go check in on your own sister too! Geeze. 

Oh well.

Magic check complete, and sure enough this Shino girl- already sporting a fancy set of mechanical implants over about fifty percent of her body- got a personal boost of personal magic. You're not familiar with it exactly, and it's nothing like what you've seen from Fae from Alfheim, but...

It vaguely reminds you of a Cait Sith, given the changes to the eyes- and thank whatever god resided over this chunk of the multiverse that the mechanical implants hadn't replaced the eyes entirely- only augmented them in ways that the genetic changes worked around. 

For now, the eye and hair color change is the most obvious visible surface level thing, but... You can still see her genetics shuffling under the diagnostic spell, working around the cybernetic changes.

Good grief, what a collision of two very clashing types of bodily modification.

* * *

 

You are now just one of many BA'AL CLONES overseeing the construction facility making your own KNOCK OFF BRAND STARGATES. 

It's an average day, you're on pace to meet your quota of THREE GATES A DAY- with the second just about being finished up and the third about to be start to-

Proximity alarms beep loudly.

 **"Oh what now,"** you sigh, and Check the facility's proximity sensors...

A Meteorite. Rich with Naquadah. Crashing. Towards the Facility.

WHAT.

Where did that come from!?

Some other Goa'uld must have-

Wait.

What other Goa'uld? Another him? But why would he sabbotage--??

And then an Alternian woman appears in a flash of red and a swing of a sword and you swallow as you realize exactly what the meteor was as it vanishes off of the sensors and the alarms go silent.

"That's right, little fake snake, the meteor ruse..."

And then she lunges at you with her sword- 

"WAS A DISTRACTION!!!"

-And then there was one less Ba'al in the universe.

* * *

 

You are now a very different BA'AL, and you grimace as the report comes in.

Your stargate construction facility was wiped off the map of the planet it had been placed on. Naquadria rich to the core, it had made sense to build there... of course, a sudden meteorite strike would destroy it, especially if that meteor was also naquadah rich.

Something about this doesn't sit right with you, however.

You had DEFENSES. You should have had everything in place to ensure nothing hit that planet that hard.

...

...You have no proof of any wrong doing, however. 

What a pain. So much for THAT plan. So many wasted resources.

Still, you send a ship out that way to confirm what the automated alarm systems confirmed.

It'd take a few weeks to get there since it was an old cargo ship and in desperate need of upgrades and repairs, but atleast it could cloak like the best of them.

You need to know if there was anything salvageable. 

* * *

 

You're once again Vala Mal Doran, and you're feeling like you oughta just quit, after the round of questions you just went through. Jonas was right- trying to game the system just got you gamed instead. 

Still, you've got your results to discuss with General Landry, and so you meet him in his office.

Landry sits behind the desk, and Woolsey sits in one of the two chairs opposite him.

"Vala," he nods for the free chair, "take a seat."

You sit down, quiet, then start, "So.. before we go on about how I've no doubt failed the exam, I'd like to mention that-"

"You passed," Landry interjects, handing you a folder to review.

You read it for a moment and... Wait... What?

"Secret Test of Character? Passed?" You blink at the extraneous line in the middle. "What secret test of character?"

"Doctor Hutchinson requested I give you a test," Woolsey says. "You definitely caught on to the fact that I'd been prompted to it, and here I thought I was a good actor."

"So... you asking me to spy on the SGC...?" You trail off.

"All part of the exam," Landry says. "Once Doctor Hutchinson realized how you were handling the stress, and got a good gauge of your character,  he figured the only real true test of character we would need to perform was loyalty. The rest of the exam was mandated, of course, but he felt confident that you'd pass it."

"So... I'm cleared to work with you guys then?" You ask.

"Of course, but I am required to ask one question." Landry says.

"And what's that?"

"After your last mission paid you out in full, you chose to do whatever you liked, only to come back here and request to join SG-1, permanently, out of the blue, or so it seemed." Landry then says, "All I have to ask is, what made you change your mind?"

You blink.

This really wasn't on any of the exams or in any of the questions you'd been asked so far.

Why do you want this?

"Because I don't have a family anymore," you answer, surprisingly honestly even for yourself. "It was so lonely being on my own again and I... When I ran into SG-1 again out there it just... felt right? If that makes any sense?"

"That's about what Hutchinson expected as well," Woolsey says. "That said, I have no objections. Landry?"

"None either," Landry smiles, stands, and offers you his hand. "Welcome to Stargate Command, Vala Mal Doran."

You shake his hand in turn.

"Thank you, Sir," you say. "Though... if you tell anyone I said that I'm going to deny it vehemently. Reputation, you understand. Right?"

That garners a couple of smiles and a short chuckle. 

"Naturally," Landry answers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What we're seeing with the Rift>SG:AltVerse>CorinthEarthVerse is pretty much the natural propagation of Zillyum/Magic through the known multiverse. An Area with HIGH CONCENTRATIONS of Zillyum will export it through uncontrolled Rifts in space/time to dimensions without high concentrations. Artificially Created and Fully Controlled Rifts like what Oberonn was using before at English's behest are able to restrict this flow of energy as a side-effect of culling undesirable and unpredictable surges. Briefly open rifts are prone to some exposure of the particle, but that is limited. Large Scale Self Sustaining Rifts such as these are what cause mass migration of Zillyum particles.
> 
> In the meantime, hey it's Shinon! Shinonon? Shino? Sinon? One of those names. Also, it looks like Corinth Earth might be well on its way to being tangentially related to a GunGaleOnline-styled verse! Hey, how about that? Just one giant crashed spaceship away from all of that.
> 
> Also, dang, Ba'al can't catch a break. Now Damara's targeting his Gate Production plant? Gee, maybe he should just go try stealing Stargates or som- wait. No. That didn't work. Plan was skewered already. Damn. How about that. (Read this whole paragraph as if I'm not even bothering to feign surprise and have a whole sarcastic tone of voice behind it.)
> 
> Working to finish up Friday's Chapter, should probably be another two-part-ish thing that'll spill over into next Monday's chapter.


	7. INTERVIEW: Daraya Jonjet (Therapy Session 1)

_[Present: Dr. Heightmeyer (DH), Daraya Jonjet (DJ)]_  
  
_[Location: Dr. Heightmeyer's therapy office, Atlantis.]_  
  
DH: I'm surprised you would come speak with me, Daraya. Most of the Alternians have been quite firmly ignoring my presence here.

DJ: Yeah, well... I don't really have anyone I can talk to about this right now, Doctor Heightmeyer. Given, well... the only person who comes close to being my Moirail who's here in Atlantis is probably just about as- ugh. Wound up over it, I guess?

DH: 'Probably'?

DJ: Huh?

DH: Have you talked with them about this to confirm that?

DJ: No, but, I mean... Haven't exactly had the time to? With the Wraith stuff. He's been really busy helping with the engines and shit.

DH: Mallek Adalov, you mean?

DJ: Yeah.

DH: And you haven't asked him how he feels about this situation?

DJ: Why should I have to? He was there with me when... well. When that happened. When TC died. When... When Polypa got burned alive and nearly died.

DH: I've read the report. It was a traumatic time. The first encounter with Replicators, and the construction of the first Supergate...

DJ: Traumatic doesn't even begin to cover it. I mean. Fuck, it was just a volcano exploding! I shouldn't be this... I shouldn't-

DJ: (Fidgeting of the hands, trembling in the shoulders.)

DJ: I mean, Alternia itself was pretty fucking traumatic on its own! And I grew up in a desert where the undead roamed on occasion and wanted to eat you alive! I grew up in- in a fucking cave hiding away because at the wrong moment the Empire could find us and kill us and- I shouldn't be so worked up over a fucking Volcano!!

DH: "Shouldn't" is a thing we can recognize as being something we know we have no logical reason to be afraid of, and yet... we are regardless.

DH: (Pauses to consider words.)

DH: There's a finite line of human emotion versus rationality. I've known some patients who, for example, despite knowing they should be able to answer a question easily and readily, still freeze up with mental gridlock every time someone springs a question on them out of nowhere. Or they lock up every single time upon hearing the sound of a moth flitting against a wall simply because of a single solitary incident of a Moth flying at their ears when they were a child.

DJ: But I'm NOT freezing up over a question or a moth! I- I fucking collapsed in the Control Room because I was seeing THAT DAY again. Because the Gate got hit by Lava. AGAIN. I- It only happened the once! Why am I so caught up over this!?

DH: Because despite your relative success over the years at having loved ones avoiding death, that was the day when you lost a Commander- a teammate- and nearly lost another close friend, who was hospitalized for quite some time before making her recovery.

DJ: (Frowning, and hesitantly nodding.)

DH: Not to mention it being the first major appearance of such a massive and long running enemy within your Galaxy, it's likely that this recent incident served as a trigger to bring all sorts of repressed emotions relating to all of those incidents back to the surface.

DJ: But. Why now? I thought I was over it. It happened. It was done. I moved on.

DH: Evidently not, if it's bothering you this much.

DJ: I don't- I just... I want to stop freaking out every time I hear something loud go boom, or crack, or- Or-- OR---

DJ: (Huffing, closing eyes, shaking head, hands clenched to fists, before relaxing slightly.)

DJ: What do I do to fix this?

DH: Let's start with what you're really afraid of here. When you're starting with these flashbacks, what is the first thing that comes to mind?

DJ: I-

DJ: (Pauses. Frowns, considering.)

DJ: I feel like... Like I've been living on borrowed time, and I've just run out and I- I don't want to die. I want to keep living! I want to-to--- I want to survive but I'm not sure I can. And that's STUPID because I've survived so much already! The only thing that's gonna be killing me is hesitating and locking up because of this!

DH: Let's not focus on that for the moment. Whether it's stupid or not, it's how you're feeling. Let's focus on that fact instead.

DJ: I... Okay.

DH: You feel you're living on borrowed time, but what do you see? What comes to mind first and foremost out of everything after that feeling?

DJ: It's hot. The room gets so hot, and Polypa's screaming, and I'm screaming, and Mallek's screaming and- and there's the Gate right infront of me and there's lava pouring through it's eventhorizon against the shield...

DJ: (Has the "Wants to say more but not sure how to say it" expression, fidgets with hem of skirt for several moments)

DJ: Except I'm sure the shield is going to fail, and the lava's going to pour through. And I- I'm sure It's going to kill me, but- but not before it kills everyone else and I can't do anything because I'm stuck, screaming.

DH: I see.

DJ: So... what now. Do you hypnotize me or something so I don't deal with this anymore?

DH: No, nothing of the sort. I'm going to recommend you talk with Mallek, Keiko, and Tyzias about this, as a matter of fact.

DJ: Wh- seriously? But- why? It's not- I mean, It's not their problem. And Mallek's-

DJ: (Trails off silently, unable to finish what seems to be even a flimsy excuse to herself.)

DH: Isn't it their problem too, though? You are their teammate, Tyzias' Matesprit, and their friend. Believe me when I say you need support in this, and it sounds to me like you fear being isolated by disaster, while isolating yourself out of fear.

DJ: But... I'm not...

DH: You've refused to talk with someone who was there out of concern that they're feeling the same way that you are- and even if that is the case, have either of you ever talked about this traumatic event ever? In all the years you've worked together?

DJ: (Silent for several long moments.)

DJ: No... I don't think we have. Like I said, I thought I was past it.

DH: But again, here we are.

DJ: ...I... I guess? I just... Can't you do something for me?

DH: As many Alternians have pointed out to me, I don't think Earth Psychotherapy is necessarily compatible, 100%, with the Alternian Psyche. Given that two of your romantic quadrants involve managing emotions of others...

DH: (Begins writing on a sheet of paper to hand over when finished.)

DH: I think there's a definite need there that you're neglecting currently. Also, I feel that there's not really anything I can do to help you out right now given that you are definitely aware of your emotions and the root causes behind them, save for the fact that you're postponing communicating to your friends- to your team- that you're suffering this way.

DJ: (Frowns)

DJ: Seriously? I knew it too easy? Is that what you're saying?

DH: Some patients, I've had to work weeks with them just to get them to open up to this point. You want to talk, to express those emotions, but you're hesitating over the who, I think. And you and I both know that your teammates are just as concerned about your state of being right now as I am. You shouldn't be keeping them out of the loop, and I have the sneaking suspicion that you are intentionally avoiding the topic with them when you come to me, someone that your people on base do not quite trust, instead of the people closest to you.

DH: (Hands over sheet of paper, with simple instructions: "Talk To Your Team.")

DJ: (Continues to Frown, but nods in acceptance of that piece of paper.)

DJ: Okay. I'll talk with them.

DH: That's all I ask. If you and your team are not able to come up with something that helps you out in, say, a month, I'll try to have done some more research into how your people manage mental health and we'll work from there.

DJ: ...Okay. Thank you, Doctor Heightmeyer.

DH: Any time, Miss Jonjet.

_[End Transcript]_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Daraya's going to want to avoid anything to do with volcanoes for a very long time to come.
> 
> Due to my chapter flubup my guestimate on what day a certain chapter would land was somewhat off. The Pegasus Project is tomorrow's chapter. Technically Tuesday/Wednesday.


	8. SG1:10X03: The Pegasus Project.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A crossover that'd be a lot more monumental if I hadn't been doing crossovers between the various seasons for the entire story so far. Just another Tuesday or Wednesday, really.

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 16TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 10/25/0005.**

[ _VRAAAOOOORMMMMSSSHSSshhhhSshhhhsssss...._ ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q7t93tRrM9Y)

Your name is Rose Lalonde, and you smile in greeting of your alternate-timeline mother as she greets you at the SGC's linking room.

"Hello, Mom," you greet.

"Hey, Rose," she smiles. "Got everything ready?"

"Captchalogued and ready, yes. I can't stay any longer than a few days. Everything is hectic right now back on Atlantis," you explain. "We're expecting the Wraith Hiveship to show up in about five days now. Who knows what's going to happen at that point."

Your inner sense of story telling logic fears it will be anything good, though.

"Sooo... Did you talk with Rox about any of this?" your mother asks as you both step out into the hallway and start walking for the elevators.

"No, not especially." You pause convincingly while restraining your physical responses. "Honestly, I think we were both more distracted over the box of Sunglasses that Uncle Davis had given them before they linked back through to Atlantis."

"He did what now?" Mother asks, blinking in confusion as you arrive at the elevator, and wait for it to arrive.

"I over ordered on Sunglasses," Uncle Davis is suddenly there, subtly pulling both you and mother away from the Gate. "I got two times as many boxes as I'd wanted. So... Well..."

Then, the elevator dings, and SG-1 basically squeeze out as fast as they can considering that the elevator gets pretty cramped with six people in it- especially when all six of the elevators passengers are geared up for travel- let alone with eight, two of which were other Uncle Davishes who quickly go off to do other things.

Meanwhile, Vala and that Rider guy both just awkwardly give you the most polite 'I don't really know you yet' smiles as the Generic Pleasantries are exchanged between you and the rest of SG-1, and then they all head to the Linking Room.

As you and mother get in the elevator with Uncle Davis, he says, "They're going to Atlantis to check its database for addresses that might not have been copied to Ganos' repository on Lopan."

"Did they check it already?" You ask.

"Yeah," he answers with a nod. "Ganos remembered the planets names, but was having trouble digging up the addresses besides for Vagonbrei, which she could tell us the weapon wasn't on it anyways, so. Yeah."

"How's her memory recovery been going anyways?" Mother asks.

"Ah, you know. It's like de-fragmenting a computer hard drive that got hit with a full system delete that just set the files to hidden instead of actually deleting them right off the bat," Uncle Davis says. "It's all there, just, scattered." he smiles. "Hopefully now that we've got her looking into the specific memories, we'll have our answers soon enough."

"Here's hoping," you agree.

* * *

 

The rain fell like crazy, tapping against the City's  windows with a ferocity that sounds similar to someone crinkling up an endless sheet of bubble wrap into an ever tinier and tiner ball of plastic. Lightning flashed with such frequency that it felt like someone was intentionally flicking a lights witch on and off outside.  
  
It is a storm, yes, but not one anywhere near as ferocious as the one from last year. If that storm was a pure 100% at the maximum level of destruction? This storm is a mere 1% of its raw energy of destructive ability. Still, while the rain is pleasant to you, you know certain people are hunkering down in memory of the event.

Your name is Mikari Aiikho, and you peer out into the rain beyond as you consider everything that's going on.

In less than a week, it's expected that this mysterious Hiveship will appear above Atlantis to do who knows what.

You've ordered a temporary, possibly permanent evacuation of the City to the Alpha and Beta Sites- the new Athosian settlement has also agreed to host some of your people in their village as well.

The process for that has been slow and meticulous, and mainly focused on transplanting the City's entire massive database in chunks to the new facility being built on the Jurassic World inside the recently re-powered Shielded Temple that was near the Gate. If the City's database can be saved, then sacrificing the City itself wouldn't be as sour of a note as it was considered back during the siege.

But, for all you know, the Hiveship could turn tail and leave the minute arrived. But given the ferocious speed and the vicious attacks it's made on any Hiveships that get in its way...

This is one Mystery that could cause everyone no end of pain.

In the mean time, repairs to the AURORA are being made based on what can be replicated from the ARGO, and it's hoped that the ship will be in fighting shape come the right moment.

But, until then, you'll focus on the day to day, and on today's roster...

Your radio buzzes, Chuck speaking, "Miss Aiikho, SG-1 has arrived via the Book Room."

"I'll be right down," you say, moving to head that way.

* * *

 

**O <\-- [STARGATE: SG-1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw) \-->O**

* * *

 

You are now Rose Lalonde once again, and the storm raged on as you step out of the car into the rain to travel across the yard to the Egbert house front door.

The storm had come on suddenly,  lightning flashing ominously, and storming loudly.

It's appropriately fitting, really.

Your mother opens the house door, and you both quickly get inside.

"That storm came out of nowhere!" Your mother huffs, then calls out a "We're home!"

"Welcome back!" the surprisingly familiar voice of Okurii calls from the kitchen. "I'll be out in a minute, just finishing snacks."

You and mother head that way, pausing only to look into the tv room- the TV's set to some reruns of Power Rangers- Lost Galaxy, you suspect going by the flying colony ship on screen- and you see the Nepetas sitting on the couch, watching, being the only ones around right now.

"Where are the others?" you ask.

"Karkat volunteered to watch them today," Mother informs you.

"So it's just us here then?" You ask.

"Yep," she nods.

"Good," you shrug off your soaked jacket onto a wall hook, and say, "Take me to the research notes Victoria brought."

"Right now?" Your mother asks. "But what about snacks?"

"Bring them to me when they're ready. I don't have much time here for this trip," you say. "Remember?"

And so you're lead upstairs to the study where, sure enough, there's several boxes of family documents and such brought over from elsewhere.

Your mother leaves you to it, under the impression that you're here simply to read it all out of curiosity.

No, rather, Roxy has been feeling unnerved by the whole thing, and quite frankly, you are too, if only by the implication that some distant branch of your bloodline was hunting your biological grandparents and great grandparents for reasons unknown.

If that really is the truth, you want to make damn sure that none of them are surviving, if only for your own safety.

You settle in to work, listening as the rain rattles against the window, and lightning flashes out in the distance.

You decaptchalogue your laptop, boot up, and start web-searching historical documents.

Your name is Rose Lalonde, and you're going to solve this.

* * *

 

You are now RIDER.

"Sorry for the bad weather," the alternian, Mikari Aiikho, says as she guides you through the hallways. "But atleast it's not as bad of a storm as the one from a few months ago."

"Well, there's that," Mitchel says. "So, while we're here and Jonas is researching the keys to saving the universe- do you need help with anything?"

"All sorts of things, but you'll have to check in with Argo on that," Aiikho syas. "They told me to take today off to help out while you were here so I wasn't over-stressing over the Wraith situation. More than I already am, at any rate."

"Heh, that's Argo alright," Jude smiles.

"So, this is Atlantis, huh?" Vala asks, glancing around. "It's really quite beautiful. Got any souvenir shops?"

"Ah, no, not as of yet, we don't," Aiikho laughs.

"It's been a while since I last checked in," Jonas says, "How much of the city have you been able to explore?"

"Just a bit over half now," Aiikho answers. "We have the city schematics, so we know roughly where everything is, but there are still entire sections of the city, and entire subsystems that we can't even pretend to understand."

"You could spend a lifetime trying, and never come close," you muse.

"Well, we're hoping for something close to that," Aiikho smiles. "We're still trying to get the engines to turn on after the Trust sabotaged them, so i think I'll settle for just getting those working in this life time."

"So," Cassandra claps her hands. "How's the search so far gone?"

"Well, we ran the search you asked for," Aiikho says. "We ran every pronunciation of Castiana and Sahal we could come up with and nothing." She pauses to ask, "Are you sure that those names would be in the Atlantis database?"

"The Vibes aren't telling me otherwise," Cassandra says. "We're going to find something."

"Did you get the spelling right?" Vala asks.

"Well, that's the problem with Ancient Languages, in general," Jonas interjects, "let alone actual Ancient. The pronunciation of something can change within a couple generations, let alone thousands of years. The etymology of individual words can be lost entirely. But..."

"There's something," Cassandra says. "I can feel it."

Your stomach grumbles, and you make a quick inquiry about heading off to get some food.

Aiikho gives you the directions, and you head off to the cafeteria to get something to eat. You knew you'd forgotten something this morning. Oh well.

You arrive in the cafeteria a few minutes later, and see what there is to see. Looks like people are busy either eating or planning, or planning while eating- when not standing in line, so you go stand in line and order as simple of a sandwich as you can.

Once you get it, and go sit down to eat, someone sits down next to you with a "Hi!"

"Uh-" You start, "Hello?"

"Yep, hi," they greet you, eyes hidden behind heart shaped sunglasses. "I'm Roxy. Roxy Lalonde. You're Rider, right?"

"I am," you say. "Why?"

"I've... got some questions I'd like to ask you if that's alright. I think I'm going through something similar to what you've been through. Sorta."

You frown, but say, "Sure. Fine. After I eat though? I missed breakfast."

"Sure!" Roxy nods.

* * *

 

You are once again Rose Lalonde, and you wish Kanaya had come with you, but she's got her hands busy being a healer with the Shaper Crystal.

"How's it going?"

"Ugh." You massage at the bridge of your nose as Okurii comes up the stairs and lays a plate of snack-sandwiches on the desk.  "Not well," you answer. "There's two alternate names for the country in question. Sauville and Saubreme, and there's odd, conflicting reports of the country gearing up for World War Two in 1925- years before the war was supposed to start."

"The country existed though, right?" Okurii asks. "It's not like it was just stitched into history after the fact by someone else?"

"No, it definitely existed, and was totally gone by 1945," you say. "The land's currently split, owned by France and Switzerland. But the historical reccords surviving from that time are totally stitched up."

"Wait, seriously? I was joking," Okurii frowns.

"I think it all has something to do with the country itself basically falling into civil war during the years before World War Two," you say.

"Really?" Okurii sits down in the open chair next to you. "What happened?"

You explain: "As far as I can tell? The country had a Ministry of the Occult and a Ministry of Science, and they were at war with eachother in the shadows since the first war. Science wanted nothing to do with the war, and the Occult wanted everything to do with it. The Occult seems to have ousted Science and began promising the people they would have victory in the following conflicts thanks to having 'The Monster Charlemont' or something stupid like that." You pause to nibble at one of the snack sandwiches.

"What is that? A myth?" Okurii asks.

"No idea for sure," you say. "Apparently all books on the matter were burned during the conflict that happened after. If it was a myth or a story or legend or something- someone went to great lengths to make sure nobody remembered it after."

You tab over to a newspaper article, written in French- and seemingly burned around the edges.

"Here's an article from some Paris Newspaper around the time," you say. "Apparently the head of the Occult Ministry was holding a rally, showing off the famed Monster to the crowd of devoted zealots."

"Are the... wearing bunny rabbit masks?" Okurii squints at the photograph in the article- the picture shows a burning rally sight, with people wearing costumes and normal clothes fleeing from the scene. Distantly, on stage, you can barely see the shadowed forms of a small figure and a taller figure dueling amongst the flames.

"No idea why, but yes," you say. "Anyways, the report goes on to say that the 'Monster' turned out to have been replaced with a fake and called the Occult Minister out on his shady antics. The report calls it a 'lovers spat taken to the sun'- a lovely metaphor for the fire that was started and burned the stage area to a crispt. They never recovered any bodies, but the Minister of the Occult is reported to both have perished and survived. A paradox, if ever there was any."

"That's concerning," Okurii says. "The surviving family member, you think?"

"Possibly, possibly not," you say. "It's reported the Minister had a son who did survive through the incident, so it could be that's what they meant."

"What happened after that?" Okurii asks.

"The country broke out into open war, falling along the lines of Occult and Science," you say, tabbing to another french newspaper article- really, the "Cesare Times" seemed to do a damned good job of managing to survive whatever historical purge happened, related to this country. "Here's where the two names come in. Both were claiming rights to the land, Science under Saubreme, and Occult under Sauville. There was no actual break up of the land itself like what happened in America's civil war. The country was too small for that."

"That's horrible," Okurii says.

"Not the worst of it, though," you say. "Come old World War Two, Occult allied with Germany and the rest, and Science allied with anyone who was a part of the obvious opposition. Come the end of the war, the country was barely functioning anymore. The population had either flead to other countries, or was wiped out by the war. By 1945, it all went Poof. Gone like the wind, and it seems like everyone tried to forget they existed. Records erased, mentions scrubbed. It's a damn good coverup, if I do say so."

"So anyone who survived and got out would have basically vanished into the wind with no real way of tracking down other survivors," Okurii frowns. "What does this mean for Victoria's story?"

"Ah? What do you mean by that?" You ask, playing coy.

"Please, Rose, i know you're looking into this beyond the fact that you're curious about your own family history," Okurii says. "I can see it in your eyes."

"Fine," You roll said eyes as dramatically as possible. "Honestly? The way everything is so jumbled up, the only way people could know anything more than that I pieced together is if they knew someone who'd been there." You bring up some other reports- one of them not-so-thankfully in English.

"BRADLEY AND HARLEY - DARING RIVALS OR SOMETHING MORE?" the headline read. Below it, a picture of a twenty-something Jake Harley glaring fiercely at an also 20-something woman with short cropped blonde hair and piercing blue eyes, Their foreheads were locked against eachother as both grabbed at a golden trophy and were actively trying to steal it from the other.

The article itself was sensationalist tabloid drivvel with nothing that actually referenced actual history or could be corroborated. It was basically some hotshots real-person-fanfiction disguised as a "Speculation Piece." Still, the photograph was very real, and it had given you a link you needed to get where you needed to go.

"I managed to dig into Avril Bradley's schooling reccords," you say, "She went to an Academy in Saubreme, or Sauville, whichever you want to call it. Couldn't find much else, but I did checks, and she was in the right age range to be sharing classes with Great-grandma Victorique and Great-grandpa Kazuya, and that checks out with Victoria's family records- from both sides of the adoption. I'm willing to believe that's genuine."

"Rose..." Okurii gives you a LOOK, and you huff, admitting:

"Okay, fine. I think she's telling the truth about her relationship to us, and our family, which means I'm terrified over the possibility that the letter she received that prompted her to seek US out was sent by someone trying to clean up loose ends."

"You think it's a cover-up?" Okurii asks.

"I think that the thorough amount of scrubbing that happened to the point that the only articles I can find on a now dead country come from a single Paris newspaper can't be anything but intentional," you say. "And I don't think it's JUST because of the country imploding during a civil war."

* * *

 

"Sooo..." You are now ROX(Y) LALONDE, and you've invited this person displaced from time to your lab in Atlantis. "Um, please don't take this the wrong way at first, and this might get a bit... rambling??  But... You were born a girl right?"

Rider bristles, but he nods. "I was. What of it?"

"I was too," you say. "I thought... I was like that for so long that I had to stick to it. Had a kid, adopted others, just... accepted that was my identity, right? And then I got cloned and then I was separate and all that... discontent that I'd managed to accept for those old reasons weren't working anymore because they weren't mine anymore. So... I've had people been calling me by they/them for a while now but- well, I'm wondering how did you know for sure you were a guy, deep down inside? I... I kind of want to know if that's even sort of applicable to me. You know?"

"Well... Artoria was seen as Arthur," Rider says after a few moments of silence- no doubt to process that huge thing. "Everyone accepted him as a man. The people who raised me called him my Father, even if... Well, I don't know how Artoria sees it. I haven't really had a chance to ask. But... I saw that, saw how similar I looked to him, and I just said, "I'm his Son" instead of "I'm his Daughter" and it just... felt like the right thing?" He shrugged. "Honestly, back then everyone accepted it- and nobody really questioned it when you're wearing a heavy suit of form concealing armor."

"Haha," you laugh a bit. "Yeah. I can... I can see that."

"Honestly, I've had to correct people more times now than I did then," Rider says. "I don't know why. It's kind of annoying, really. Why is everyone in this time so caught up on what a person identifies as or by? Why does it have to be such a whole... Whole..." he struggles for a phrase.

You supply it: "Federal Fucking Issue?"

"Exactly!" Rider nods. "Why does it have to be such a whole Federal Fucking Issue to be able to make it so people accept me for what I want to be called by, name or otherwise? I don't see the point in it. If I'm telling you I'm a guy, then I'm a guy, and that's the end of the story. There doesn't need to be any doubt about it. And the same holds true in the reverse. If I were born male and knew in my heart that I should be called a female like I know right now that I'm a guy despite how I was born, then what's the difference? I'm saying what I'm saying, and you should accept the fact that I know myself better than you know me. It doesn't matter what's in my pants or beneath my shirt. I say what I am and that's it. End of story!"

You consider all of that, and then you say, "Thank you, Rider. I think that's what I wanted to hear. Might need to give it some thought on that, to really know but... Thank you."

"Any time," he says. "I'm at the SGC most days, if you want to talk more. You know where to find me." And then his radio buzzes, Jonas wanting to know where he is, and he rolls his eyes. "Duty calls."

"I know that feeling," you say, smiling. "Good luck with the hunt!"

"Thanks. I get the feeling we're going to need it."

* * *

 

You are now Jonas Quinn, and you, Vala, and Rider are casually lead into the Hologram room by Mikari. The rest of your team split up at the control room to figure out where they could help with things.

"Well, this is it, the Hologram room," Mikari says as the door into the room closes behind you. "We don't use it much even now with a full ZPM compliment. It's just too much of a power hog, and it's easy to access the database from our workstations through the city when necessary, but... if there's some hidden way of accessing the information we need, it'd be here."

She steps forwards onto the platform and touches the altar/pedestal and wooosh, with a a flicker of a hologram, Ganos Lal appears again.

 _"Greetings,"_ The Hologram says.

"Now you can talk to her verbally or input into the console," Mikari says. "Now, she can be a little patronizing. I think the program was primarily made to teach young children the Lantian systems, but-"

Her radio buzzes then with Argo's voice- _"Mikari, we need you in the Control Room."_

"I'll be right there," she says in return, then to you, says, "The interface can walk you through it until I get back. Good luck," and then she heads off.

"Thanks," you say. "I think we're going to need it."

You step up to the console, and say, "Hello, Ganos Lal."

The hologram parses that, then shifts out of the teacher's stance ever so slightly, _"Hello. I'm sorry, but do I know you? You are not present in previous records as having interacted with me, and yet you know my name."_

"Yeah, we've met you a couple of times," you say. "Holograms, and the like."

 _"Ah, fellow instances,"_ the hologram nods. _"I suspect then that you have come here seeking something they do not know."_

"Yes! Hello!" Vala steps up. "Hi!" She smiles.

Ganos smiles back as well, _"Hello."_

"We're looking for a couple of planets in the Milky Way," Vala says.

 _"You may enter your query verbally, or by entering it manually on the console,"_ the hologram states, slipping back into Teacher mode.

Damn it.

"Ah, right, we'll speak if that's alright with you," you say.

 _"Very well. But note for future sessions manual input is required for most system interactions,"_ the Hologram nods.

"...I think I had a teacher like her in grade school," you remark.

"Nah, she was always like that, far as I could tell," Rider remarks, and you think he's missing the point.

* * *

 

You're once again Mikari Aiikho, and you arrive in the control room to find Cassandra doing... something with a computer terminal.

"What is it?" You ask.

Argo turns to you, and says, "while Jude and Cameron went to the Aurora to work on repairs, Cassandra went to work looking at the Wraith fleet movements Ford left us. She said she felt something was off with the movements, and then immediately opened up a programming terminal and started writing code."

"Cassandra?" You move over to her, "What's going on?"

"I'm not entirely sure but I think I'm upgrading your secure storage protocols to counter Wraith Viruses," Cassandra answers. "I'm just following the vibes at this point!"

"Considering there is a Wraith Hiveship on its way, I'll take it," you say. "Just ask for permission first next time?"

"Yeah, sure," Cassandra says, not stopping typing.

You sigh, then look to Argo and say, "I'll keep an eye on her. Make sure everything else is going according to schedule."

"Yes, ma'am," they nod.

* * *

 

"Okay, so that's Earth, and that's Taonas..." Jonas says, pointing at dots on the starmap above.

 _"Praclarush Taonas was one of the earliest Lantian Cities,"_ Ganos speaks, _"It was abandoned when the inhabitants learned their sun was nearing the end of its life."_

"Yes," Jonas hangs his head. "Thank you. I know. I've been there."

_"You are most welcome."_

Jonas sighs. "Okay, show me the order in which the earliest Ancient Cities were founded."

You are Vala Mal Doran, and you sigh as well. "HOW is that going to help? You going to make a road map with the constellations?"

"Just getting my bearings, Vala," Jonas says. "This could take a while."

"Well, the way we go through getting your bearings, it could take the rest of our lives!" you say with mock cheer.

"What do you expect me to do?" Jonas asks. "Ask the Hologram, 'Hey, We're looking for the weapon Moros Built to kill Ascended Beings! Got any idea where it is?'"

 _"Unknown Query. As far as I am aware, Ascension is still being researched,"_ The hologram says. _"Also, I do not known why Moros would design a weapon to do such a..."_ She pauses. _"Oh. This is about the Ori, isn't it? Parameters changed... Please restate your exact query."_

"Lovely," you say. "Now ask it for the planets we need."

"Fine," Jonas sighs. "We're looking for the names of two planets, known on Earth in the dialect of Old English as Castiana and Sahal."

 _"Processing..."_ And then two dots glow on the stars above. _"Taoth Vaclarush and Valos Cor."_

And then Gate Addresses write themselves out beneath the dots.

"...See?" You say. "It didn't hurt to ask."

"Taoth Vaclarush and Vaos Cor..." Rider remarks. "One of those is home to a Dragon. Can't remember which, though."

"Dragons aren't real in this dimension," Jonas says, dismissively.

"What about the blue one I saw on that girl's shoulders?" Rider asks.

"Not Native to this dimension, rather?" You offer.

"Fine," Jonas relents. "Dragons aren't native to this dimension."

* * *

 

Out in the hallways of Atlantis, Keiko Ayano and Daraya Jonjet paused in their conversation as Pina- the blue feather drake resting on Keiko's shoulders- sneezed suddenly.

* * *

 

"That's it?" your name is Jonas Quinn. "That's it!? How was it that easy!!?" And you stare at the hologram above you- gate addresses and all- with an incredulous gaze.

"We got what we came for," Vala says. "Should we go tell someone?"

"How the HELL did the database translate in real time a language spoken eight thousand years after the Ancients abandoned Atlantis?" You ask. "How was there a verbal link between the words Castiana and Sahal and their Ancient counterparts??"

 _"Castiana and Sahal were designated by Moros as codewords for specific worlds as Storehouses incase of Ori Incursion within Milky Way. Also included in this desegregation is the code word storehouse 'Vagonbrei.'"_ the Ganos Lal Hologram explained, adding that third planet and gate address to the list above. _"There was no translation required."_

You stare at Ganos, flippantly wondering if somehow she survived being killed and actually asceneded... but no. That actually makes sense. In too stupid of an explanation to be anything but the truth.  

"Alright then," you say. "What can you tell us about these planets?" you ask.

 _"Processing..."_ the Hologram says. _"The planet Vagonbrei was observed to be home to a parasite known to consume the chemical 'serotonin' that-"_

"Not Vagonbrei!" you interject. "The other two. Castiana and Sahal."

She starts going on about how the various settlements were founded... but something's still nagging at you.

"Wait-" you interject again. "Why was it when we had Mikari run a check for Castiana and Sahal that the database couldn't find those addresses?"

 _"Processing..."_ Ganos Hologram pauses. _"The results were passcode protected under filters 'Moros, Ori, Weapon.' Results would not be displayed unless those passcodes were checked."_

"..." you stare at it.

Rider laughs. "it was really that simple! We just had to tell the hologram what we wanted the weapon for, didn't we?"

"Yep," Vala says. "Told you we should just be as direct as possible."

You hang your head, and feel your own subconscious taunt with Ganos's voice- "You have your answer, Jonas Quinn, and I suggest you act on it."

* * *

"So! Rose!" Mother smiles as she claps her hands. "Do you want to meet Victoria? I can call her and she can come over!"

"No," you are once again Rose Lalonde, and you shake your head. "Not in this inclement weather."

"Ah, that's true. I guess. You sure you can't stay any longer though cause of the storm?" she asks.

"No, I'll take a Link back with Okurii to Diaspora then to Atlantis," you say. "And I really ought to be going. We're dealing with a lot back on Atlantis."

"Okay," your mother hugs you. "Tell John to come visit more often!"

"I will," you promise, hugging back.

And then, goodbyes soon said, you join Okurii and her little Nepeta in the TV room as a Relto Book is unhooked, offered, and linked through.

A bookshelf visit later, and you're back in Atlantis' book room as SG-1 comes in to use it to return to Earth.

You exchange pleasantries again, warn them about the rain, and pass on by them as they head back through.

You find Roxy in their quarters, polishing up the barrel of a rifle that lays disassembled on the desk before them.

"Hey," you say.

"Oh, hey," Roxy spins around, smiling. "How'd it go?" The rifle parts are captchalogued, adn the desk cleared.

"I managed to dig up something on your great grandparents," you say, decaptchaloging your laptop, and booting it up to a document you created containing screenshots of web pages, the first one written in Japanese. "Cordelia Gallo would be the mother, and the Father... Marquis Albert de Blois, head of the Ministry of the Occult. If this journal entry from a supposed sister of Kazyua Kujo is to be be believed, Cordelia pretended to be her daughter, Victorique, allowing her to escape from the Marquis' forces. They dueled in a burning arena, and it's assumed that both perished in the fire."

"Hm," Roxy stares at the page. "Supposedly. Assumed. So... Given the time gap involve, he'd surely be dead by now anyways even if he did survive that.  But..."

"But he was succeeded by a son, who might've either taken up the hunt, or had a kid who did." You shake your head. "Either way, the records coming out of this time are so shattered and covered up that there's no telling what the end result was. I have my concerns, but... I'll leave this here for you to go through." You say, and turn to leave.

"Hey, Rose?"

You stop. "Yeah?"

"Thanks, kiddo. I know I might not say it alot, but I love you, yknow?"

You smile. "Yeah, I know. Thanks, Rox. Love you too."

You just hope that love is enough to overcome someone so fixated on revenge as to hunt down people for the better part of half a decade.

* * *

 

Your name is BA'AL, and your cargo ship scout got destroyed en-route.

...Someone doesn't want you checking out whether or not your Stargate facility survived.

And you suspect that someone is one of your own clones.  
Y

ou think this will need investigating of a very... personal nature.

You initiate Plan B, and prepare yourself as bait, and alert one of your brainwashed spies.

If you're lucky, the spy will get rooted out in the process of the SGC taking the bait and hunting down as many of your clones as they can manage.

If not? Well... you have ulterior motives you could play out.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So there's Roxy getting some development, there's Rose doing some much needed research into her biological family's past, annnnd a Ganos Lal Hologram who was coded to work on passcodes. Fun! Yes, the real Ganos is still dead and that's not an Ascended being pretending to be her.
> 
> Oh, also, a check in on Atlantis. Honestly, the next two Atlantis Chapters aren't quite flowing together as smoothly as I'd like but eh. Can't win them all, tbh. The SG-1 side of things has been a lot more compelling for me so far. 
> 
> Tomorrow: A Bearing of Ba'als.


	9. SG1:10X04: Insiders

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gotta Catch'em All! Poke'Ba'al!

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 17TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 10/26/0005.**

The Gate Alarms going of is a sound that never gets old. Neither does the sight of the KAWOOSH.

You are General Jack O'neill, you arrived in the Gate Room just in time to watch as SG-1 returns through the Stargate from their latest mission- removing their hazmat gear helmets as they arrive on Earth's side.

"Howdy, kids," you greet. "How's it going?"

"Nothing much to report, Sir," Cameron Mitchel says.

"The Toxic atmosphere on Castiana is slowing us down," Jude Harley reports. "We found stone structures on Sahal, but they seem to have been abandoned for atleast forty-thousand years."

"So basically, bupkiss?" You summarize.

"Basically," Rider grunts, and stomps off, presumably to get changed out of the Hazmat Suit.

"Where's Jonas and Vala?" You ask, observing the group left behind at the Gate.

"Back on Camelot working with Hal to figure out if we missed anything," Cassandra Fraiser-Harley lets you know. "Honestly, all three addresses being a flop doesn't strike me as wrong, persay. But we're still waiting on the Lopan Ganos repository to reformat her database more. I feel like we're missing something."

"Well, whatever it is-" you start to say when there's a buzz of the intercoms, and Walter calls out:

_"Excuse me, SG-1, General O'neill? I need you to take a look at this."_

You motion, and the team follows you back up that way to the Control Room.

"What is it, Walter?" You ask.

"We just received a heads-up from NORAD, sir," Walter reports. "An Al'kesh Bomber was just spotted exiting, and then re- entering Earth's Atmosphere about four Minutes ago. Bearing indicates it's heading towards Cheyenne Mountain."

"Well that can't be a coincidence," Mitchel says.

"Cassie?" Jude asks.

"I'm not sure," she frowns. "It's... a weird vibe I'm getting. I can't tell. I think Damara's done something somewhere that's prompted this."

"Lovely," you say. "Intercept?"

"Two F-302s out of Peterson have been rerouted to intercept," Walter says. "I'm patching in now."

There's a buzz of static over the radio, then, _"Repeat, you have entered a flight restricted zone and are requested to land immediately. Please respond."_ No response follows. Then, the Pilot says, _"Stargate Command, this is Bearcat One. The alien vessel is unresponsive, and appears to have taken some damage to the communications array. Should we engage?"_  
  
Thoughts run through your mind, and you muse on it.

"Bearcat One," you radio, "this is General O'neill. Flank the Al'kesh, and take lead infront to the nearest landing strip. if it begins charging weapons, you are cleared to engage. If it follows, escort it."

 _"Roger, General O'neill,"_ there's a few moments of silence, then. _"Al'kesh is following. We are guiding to landing zone Bravo Charlie Three."_

You look to SG-1, then say, "Go meet them. I wanna know who took an Al'kesh out of Earth orbit just to come back down, and why and where they came from."

"Got it," Mitchel nods. "Let's go get changed."

* * *

 

You are now RIDER, and you frown as the world outside the jeep rushes by in a burst of bronze and golden wheat stalks.

"So... This is what we do when we're not fighting to save the Galaxy?" You ask. "Go play escort to radio silent pilots?"

"Pretty much," Mitchel answers.

"That about sums it up," Jude agrees.

"Mmh," Cassandra nods.

The SUV comes to a stop next to a landing strip where an Al'kesh and two F-302s lay parked. You four disembark and head up towards the door of the thing.

"What's the situation, Major?" Cassandra asks a Major. His name tag reads N. CAFFEY.

"Area's been secured, no-one onboard except for the pilot, he refuses to come out until you guys showed up, actually. Requested you by team number."

"Did he now?" Jude frowns.

"Well," Mitchel says, "let's go knock." And then he knocks on the Al'kesh door. "This is Lieutenant Colonel Cameron Mitchel of SG-1. I hear you were asking for us?"

 **"Ah, finally,"** a brassy sort of voice echoes from inside the door, before it opens. **_"The Welcoming Committee."_**

"Ba'al!" The rest of your team exclaim suddenly.

You just blink. "Oh, so this is the Boccie guy O'neill was talking about?"

The Goa'uld in question just chuckles, amused, but tired. **"I do wish he'd stop telling people that's my name."**

* * *

 

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw)

* * *

 

"Okay, so Ba'al of all snakes was living on Earth, could come and go as he pleased, and then just... takes an Al'kesh directly to the SGC?" Mitchel asks.  
  
Your name is Jude Harley, and you frown at the live feed of Ba'al pacing within his current holding cell. The live feed, and a scan of signals within the room.  
  
"Well, here's something interesting." You say. "Ba'al has something broadcasting a signal out of his body. Some kind of locator beacon."

"So he's expecting someone to beam him out?" Rider asks. "Cheapskate."

"Fat chance of that," Cassie says. "After the Stargate was stolen by Kinsey a while back, we installed jamming devices to prevent anyone from getting a signal lock within the SGC. He's not going anywhere."

"Well this is a first!" Jack walks into the lab. "A Ba'al who refuses to speak to me! It's like he doesn't trust me or something. Should I feel offended? I think I feel offended!"

"Well, who does he want to talk to?" Mitchel asks.

"SG-1. Apparently I don't count anymore! His words, not mine," Jack huffs.

"Yeah," you say. "I'd feel offended too."

And so you head into the holding room.

 **"Colonel Mitchel,"** Ba'al begins. **"Little Jude Harley, Psychic Knowitall Cassandra, and..."** Ba'al frowns at Rider. **"Who are you again?"**

"Vala calls me the New Guy, and so can you," Rider spits out.

 _ **"Vala?"**_ Ba'al smiles. ** _"Ah. Qetesh._ Where is she, anyways? I'd heard she'd joined up with your merry band of miscreants. And the other one too. Jonas wasn't it? I was somewhat expecting him to be here too."**

"Look," Mitchel starts. "We've been authorized to give you the time of day, so make it snappy, or we'll snap the door shut behind us."

 **"Very well,"** Ba'al adjusts in his seat. **"I can understand any reluctant to trust me given our history so I'll be 'snappy'. It's the Clones. One of them wants me dead."**

"That would be just about the best news I've heard all week," Cassandra remarks.

"Dead, huh?" Mitchel smirks slightly. "What'd you do? Cheat at cards? Water down the wine? Oh! Not give them their holiday bonuses?"  
  
"Funny," Ba'al gives him a withering gaze, suddenly dropping the vibrating voice. "Look. I'll be honest here. Brutally honest. No boasting, no voice, no posing or grandstanding. The clones who stole Stargates? I didn't authorize that. They went rogue. I thought they just had their own dumb ideas of overthrowing me, because I had a facility MAKING Stargates- and No, I'm not telling you where it is because it's GONE."

"Gone?" You ask. "I find that hard to believe."

"Well, so Did I," Ba'al says. "But it supposedly got hit by a Naquadah meteor, so I sent a Cargoship to investigate. Hush Hush. ONLY on my network between me and the clones could read the messages. SOMEONE blew up that Cargoship enroute- mid Hyperspace. Clearly, they're trying to keep me from finding out what happened, and the only reason to do THAT is if they're trying to actually dispose of ME."

"I thought you said you couldn't check it out?" you point out the glaring hole in the story.

"Well, I managed to locate one clone I COULD trust entirely," Ba'al says, "employing some... rather trade secrets I'd rather keep reserved for a future time of negotiation, I managed to get him there and confirmed that the base was gone. And not just the base, the entire planet." He then says. "And there was no Debris Field. At all. Someone stole the entire planet out from under me. There's literally nothing there anymore."

You look to the others- "Damara?" You ask.

"Damara," Cassandra nods.

"Damara?" Ba'al asks.

"Creepy ghost woman who's hounded us a couple of times," Cassandra explains. "She used to work for English. Possessed some people after he died. Kidnapped someone to run some cloning equipment, made herself a new body. Been frustratingly invisible to my vibes, too."

"She also sent us to another dimension for a day trip," Mitchel chimes in. "If she could move an entire planet, she probably would."

"And if she's convinced my clones to turn on me?" Ba'al says. "That's another reason I need to go into hiding."

"So you were building Stargates and the Witch stole them," Rider summarizes. "Why come to us besides that? What else do you get out of this?"

"Because I can help you track down the key to the OTHER looming threat in our Galaxy that surfaced after Anubis and English bit the dust," Ba'al says. "That's right. I know about Merlin's Weapon. What it can do to Ascended Beings. I can help you find it if you help me."

"And how exactly do you intend to do that?" Mitchel asks.

"See, when I took over Anubis' fleets and resources for a time, I found out about the weapon and its power. He dedicated a not insignificant amount of his resources trying to find it during his time in our plane of existence before you obliterated his ship with the Supergate and shoved him into a black hole, but he never found it."

"And You have the address?" Cassandra asks.

"Actually, you already have it. It's among those that the then Colonel O'neill downloaded from the Ancient Repository of Knowledge from, ah, P3R-277 wasn't it? No. 272."

"There's thousands of addresses in that list," You tell him.

"Exactly why you can't find it on your own." Ba'al smiles. "I, However, have information that can narrow down our choices considerably. All I ask in return is you help me hunt down my rogue Clones and dispose of them."

"And How do we do that?" You ask.

"I implanted tracking beacons in every clone when I made them," Ba'al says. "Planted one in myself too, to gain their trust, but little did most of them know that mine was the only one I could ever remove, or deactivate." He smiles. "You can use the tracking system onboard the Al'kesh. They'll never see it coming."  
  
"While this is an incredibly amazing and complex story, it's just that," Mitchel says. "A story. What makes us pull the trigger?"

"I should also mention that every one of my clones knows about Merlin's Weapon considering I knew it before I cloned them into existence," Ba'al says. "if they ARE working for this Damara, and she has designs on ruling the Galaxy by way of anything involving Stargates, up to and including potentially recreating the Dakara weapon, well... She may already know about it and want to come and take the address from you, if they come to the same conclusions I did."

* * *

 

You are General Hank Landry, and you look at O'neill as he exits your office- temporarily borrowed to discuss things with a very insistent Agent Barrett of the NID.

"Well?" You ask.

"He's sitting for now," O'neill answers. "Apparently the idea that we could get ALL the Ba'als rather than just one is holding him over on the idea of taking down the Trust once and for all."

"Good," you say. "Did you manage to get out of him how he found out about this so quickly?"

"Just that he'd tracked the Al'kesh leaving one of Ba'als suspected hideouts and came chasing after it," O'neill shakes his head. "Seems fishy to me, though. I dunno. Something about all of this just doesn't sit right."

"You've had quite the sixth sense honed over the years, Jack," you tell him. "Trust those instincts, as annoying as the wordplay might be."

"Yeah, yeah," He nods. "So, Lee said he wanted to show us something?"

You lead your fellow General down to Doctor Lee's lab where Jude is helping him double check a piece of Al'kesh control circuitry's connections to a computer.

From there, Lee presents a star map with a whole lot of glowing dots- various Ba'al clones. A good chunk of them are nowhere near Stargates...

There's a surprising lack of dots on Earth, and yet...

"We can match about 19 clones to planets with Stargates, and using a refined tracker, we can hunt them down locally," Lee sumarizes. "With this intel, the Clones are likely to go down easy and quick."

"We check this intel against the Jaffa and Tok'ra's intel," O'neill decides. "Let Teal'c know we've got a lead on the Ba'als. Once we've done that... well, I'll leave coordinating things to you, Hank."

"Gee, thanks," you say.

* * *

 

The First clone to be captured, called "Ba'al #2" for simplicity's sake, claimed to be the real clone- gave all the same spiel about being hunted by the others, and claimed that only HE knew the true location of Merlin's weapon because he'd come upon it AFTER being cloned.

Genetic tests on the hosts and symbiotes were done, five times each, and the results were identical in each case. So unless the Clones are genetically indistinguishable from the real Ba'al, they're both clones and the real Ba'al is out there somewhere.

The next planet got them 3 Ba'als, #3, #4 and #5- and SG-12 caught two more- #6 and #7, and then SG-14 some time later got two more- #8 and #9.

All of them followed the same pattern. Same genetic markers, same story about being the "real" Ba'al, and the same promise of knowing Merlin's Weapon.

Over the next few hours, more Ba'als were brought in, and by the end of the day... a full roster of 20 had been collected. Plans were being made to hunt down the rest elsewhere in the Galaxy.

Your name is Jack O'neill... and you have to say it.

"I feel like a kid who thinks he's drowning in a ball pit."

As you watch twenty different Ba'als on twenty different screens, you can't help but feel like you're missing something.

Where's the play here? What's Ba'al's real plan?

Ba'als'? Baaaaa'aaaaals?

A nest of Ba'als? A playplace of Ba'als? What's the proper terminology here? You'd call it a Murder of Crows or a Rage of Dragons, or something like that.

And then you watch Agent Barrett barge into one of the rooms with a Ba'al in it. You KNOW Landry didn't authorize it, and neither did you.

"Aw crap," you grab for the radio. "Attention Security-" Ba'al raises his hands- Barrett punches him in the nose to establish superiority. They struggle, and Ba'al manages to snag Barrett's gun from his shoulder holster and- BAM! Down he goes. And BAM- down goes the SF guarding the door.

"This is General O'neill! Security Backup to Level Sixteen Corridor B! Ba'al is escaping!"

You watch as Ba'al frees another Ba'al with a stolen key card.

"Shit." You correct, "Correction, A Bearing of Ba'als is escaping! I repeat! We have A Bearing of Ba'als Escaping Containment! Full Security Lockdown of Levels Fifteen through Seventeen NOW!"

And then camera feeds start going down.

Crap.

You can't believe you fell for this.

You start switching to whatever cameras are still intact... You spend about a minute doing that before you finally find one that-

"What the hell?"

You watch as Ba'al #1 fights against Ba'al #13, and then succeeds in prying a zat from the Ba'al  and then immediately double taps the snake into the ground.  
  
Ba'al #1 looks at the Camera, and remarks, _"I told you they wanted to kill me. I just didn't think you were stupid enough to bring them all to THE SAME PLACE I WAS!"_ and then he Zat's the camera.

* * *

 

You are now Cassandra Fraiser, and you groan as you come to from being SURPRISE ZAT'D, to see you've been locked in a Lab with Ba'al #2.

 **"Lovely!"** he smiles. **"You're awake. Good. Now give me the access codes to the Gate Address Database's Ancient Library,"** he points a pistol at you.

"Why do you want that?" You ask.

 **"Because CLEARLY I want to steal the damned Ancient Database Library of addresses!"** Ba'al says. **"Because some OTHER me already did it and refused to share with the Class! So give me the access codes so I can get one over on him! Me! Whatever!! Just give me the codes so I can access it and steal them and get ahead of that other idiot me!"**

You stare at him for a long moment, and then ask- "Seriously? You're serious about this?"

 _ **"Obviously!!"** _Ba'al #2 says. **"I wouldn't have coaxed that slimy NID agent into punching me so I could grab his gun otherwise!"**

You stare, and then ask- "Another Ba'al already has the Ancient Database of Gate Addresses? How?!"

 **"I don't know!"** Ba'al #2 says. **"However else it was he stole half the things he stole and was lording over our heads! Like that 'New Gate Network' plan! That backfired as it was! Stupid idiots stealing Stargates. Who even approved _that_ plan!?"** He clicks back the hammer of the gun. **"Now GIVE ME THE PASSCODE or I make your daughter a semi-orphan!"**

Your vibes flare strongly here- you have to do what he says no matter what... it's not like it's going to cause any trouble anyways, if another Ba'al already stole it somehow.

Fuck.

"Okay, fine," you relent. "I'll give you the passcode!"

* * *

Ba'al #5 pauses in the SGC hallway, glancing back at Ba'al #6, who is peering into a vending machine with lust in his eyes. **" _What_ are you doing!?"**

 **"I'm Hungry! I haven't eaten all day!"** Ba'al #6 says.

 **"You should have thought of that before-"** And then Ba'al #1 gets the drop on #5 and #6, double zatting them both, and then taking out a knife to rip out their transmitters from their necks.

* * *

 

"What do you MEAN Ba'al is killing Ba'als?" you are General Hank Landry once again, and you massage at the bridge of your nose as you talk on the Phone with Jack.

 _"I'm saying I'm seeing_ atleast _five... no, make that seven freshly popped Ba'als, with a chunk dug out of their necks on the cameras here, Hank. Ba'al's killing his clones as best as he can!"_ Jack answers. _"I don't know what his game plan is, but if I didn't know any better I'd say he's cleaning house!"_

"Isn't that a terrifying thought," you answer. "I'm locking down the Gate Room to be sure he can't escape. Nobody in or out until this is resolved."

"Good!" Jack says. _"Ah, crap, and there goes another camera right when some Ba'als entered frame. Security to Hallways 5 Level 17, section C. And a clean up crew, too. I think there's going to be atleast three corpses left behind."_

"That makes ten, doesn't it?" You ask. "He's killed atleast half of them so far."

 _"Probably! I just can't figure out WHY he's cutting into their-"_ he stops. You stop. You both realize it then.

_"The Transmitters!"_

* * *

 

"You want Merlin's Weapon for yourself," you are still Cassandra Fraiser, and you ask what seems to be the least likely question to get yourself killed.

Ba'al #2 is in the process of downloading the Gate Addresses onto a USB drive, and he smirks. **"Of course. A weapon capable of taking out the Andromeda Ascendants? After the stunt they pulled wiping out the Dakara weapon which ALSO could have been re-tuned to destroy THEM too? Of course I want it. I want to watch their smug faces as they get wiped off the face of two planes of existence!"**

And then an alert calls out across the Base's intercom- _"ATTENTION! REMAINING! BA'ALS!"_ Jack's voice calls out. _"One of you is killing the others and taking their Transmitters. Why? I don't know. But you oughta be on the alert that you might be next! Maybe take cover? Surrender maybe? Also, the Gate's on lockdown so you're not getting out that way. Also, we MAJORLY upped the scrambling on the anti-tracking devices, so I sincerely doubt even if you gathered all twenty transmitters you could beam out of here."_

Ba'al #2 scowls, then glares at you. **"Tell me, Psychic. Are there any other ways off of this Base that we're not aware of beyond beaming or taking a Stargate?"**

"And why should I tell you?" You ask.

 **"Because the Ba'al killing other Mes? He knows about it and is cutting off MY escape,"** Ba'al #2 smirks. **"And I want to be there to watch as the smirk gets wiped off his face when I'm there to kill him first!"**

You then ask- "Can I make a call real quick?"

* * *

You are now BA'AL #1, and despite your best efforts and a pocket full of transmitters, you're pretty sure you've missed one of your clones.

Oh well.  Eighteen out of nineteen is better than none.

You make your way through the hallways, sneaking along as quietly as you can towards the elevator shaft- sure, it's supposed to be locked down, but, oh, do you have ways around that, and an Empty Shaft is just as good as one with an Elevator.

You take one of the transmitters, jam it into the gap between the doors, and take aim with the Zat.

Housed within a body, the transmitters are shielded from most of the Zat's harmful effects. Removed and planted between solid metal, however...?

_**PCH-ZYU!** _

Even a single Zat shot causes arcing, sparking, and the deterioration of the shielding walls of the battery within the transmitter aaannd...

**_FWOOOSH!_ **

The naquadah within the battery lights up like thermite, melting through the doors, and giving you access to the shaft beyond. "Oh, I do so love unstable science."

You take a marker, and quickly scrawl a "Bill me!" on the remainder of the door with a borrowed marker from an unconscious security guard before making sure that the rest of the transmitters are safe within your pocket, and then leap for the cable in the middle of the shaft.

You grab the cable, and begin your descent lower and lower to the bottom of the shaft- and wouldn't you know it? They left the elevator parked on Level 28 as they're supposed to do during a lockdown.

You use it as solid floor to stand on as you plant another tracker into the 27th Floor's elevator doors, take cover in the gap of the shaft that is hidden out of sight behind the doors, and ZAT the transmitter.

_**PCH-ZYU! FWOOOOOSH!** _

Flames light up the elevator door, and the darkened shaft, and you close your eyes as you wait it out.

People are shouting on the other side of the door- shocked at the sudden explosion of flames.

When it passes, you wait for someone to be dumb enough to open the door, and sure enough, they do- peering into the darkness.

You stun the poor fool whose name tag reads SILER, and then duck out through the burst of smoke covering the entrance, zatting at the various positions you'd expect people to be standing in after an elevator door suddenly exploded with flames.

Once the smoke clears, you see you managed to hit everyone you expected to hit, nobody's standing, and everyone is on the floor, groaning.

Looks like you managed to get a good chunk of SG-1! Idio- Wait. Where's the psychic girl?

Damn it.

You check to make sure they're all breathing, and find that they're alive. Good.

You make for the Book Room, praying little Cassandra didn't cut you off at the pass.  O'neill would have your head if you killed anyone today that wasn't a clone of yourself, and you're not that big of an idiot to bring that big of a target down on yourself.

You Zat everyone in your path the once, and then find the solid steel door that marks your escape route- guards included.

You zat them both once each, and then zat the door's lock and handle for good measure, before you yank it open.

 **"Hello, Me!"** Ba'al #2 stands across from you, between you and the books, with a pistol aimed at you, and laying unconscious at the floor is Cassandra Fraiser. **"I see you guessed that she was going to try opening the door before you did?"**

"I knew somebody would," you say, narrowing your eyes at him, keeping your Zat leveled, carefully taking a step over Cassandra, and gently nudging her with your foot to roll her back out of the room through the open doorway.

She groans in discontent at the motion- good, she's still alive too. That one would definitely get a bounty and a death sentence on your head more than the others. Mothers tend to do that, annoyingly.

 **"So,"** Ba'al #2 starts. **"What now? You try to kill me? I try to kill you? We both wind up dead and nobody knows who the real McCoy is anymore?"**

"Something like that," you say, carefully eyeing the books behind your clone and verifying if the covers match the order they should be in. "But how about we save this conversation for somewhere else, hm? Perhaps, somewhere... more private?"

 _ **"Fat chance,"**_ Ba'al #2 says. **"I knew it had to be the first one who kicked this off. And here you are with a fancy Number One printed on his jacket. The only other survivor. The only other one who's alive after this stunt. The one who's been KILLING other Ba'als for their transmitters. What's all this about anyways? Cleaning house, I take it? Have we clones truely outlived our usefulness, if you're the real deal? Or... Is it possible that you're just an usurper trying to take over the throne and already killed the Real Ba'al?"**

"Now why should I tell YOU that?" You ask. "You're working with them! Wait, no, you're using them just as I did. Ah, I see now. You stole something and hope to get away with it, hoping I'll tell you what it is I have in exchange for survival? Well. You know what I say?"

 **"What?"** Ba'al #2 asks.

"You're an idiot if you think I came here to use the books to ESCAPE!" you say, mere moments before a burst of blinding white light fills the entire room, and everything within it.

_**PVVVVVOOOOOOM---SHING!!!!** _

You arrive within your hidden cargo ship- book stands, books, people and all- there's two of you.

You and yourself.

Or atleast, there were two of you.

Two more clones take aim at the one with the handgun and fire off their Zats- hitting him with two synchronized shots and taking down Ba'al #2.

He crumples to the floor without even getting a shot off.

You roll your shoulders, and lament, "Me, Do I really talk that much?"

 **"We tend to ramble sometimes, yes,"** one of your LOYAL CLONES says with a nod, while the other fetches the body they just created, and removes the damned tracker from his neck, as well as...

 **"Hey, look what I had on me,"** the other clone says, removing a USB drive. **"Looks like a flash drive from a SGC Lab."**

"Check it for data," you say, approaching the books before you, "if it's anything we already stole, mail it back to the SGC with an apology. Otherwise, hoard it and add it to the collection."

You open the green covered book before you, and smile as you see the panel showing the City of Atlantis's Book Room flare to life before you.

It was really a truly secondary goal out of all of this to steal the SGC's linking books. To make them paranoid to trust their supposedly secure means of traveling between Galaxies.

You don't really have any plans to use the books... but to research how they were made? The materials that made them, and the STYLE of writing that makes them tick?

Oh. Who needs a Stargate Network when you have magic books?

They won't be getting these back anytime soon.

* * *

 

"How. The HELL. Did they get a signal lock on the entire SGC book room!?" You are Cameron Mitchel, and you, your team, and quite a few other people, are nursing Zat-shock headaches.

"It, ah, looks like there was a computer virus hidden inside the Al'kesh terminal," Doctor Lee apologize. "I'm so sorry. I didn't see it. When we connected it to our systems, it triggered a worm that sought out the scrambling devices, and shut them down for about thirty seconds when every active transmitter within the Base was gathered within the same space. It was even programmed to take into account transmitters that were destroyed somehow."

"All of that for just thirty seconds!?" Jude asks.

"It was all Ba'al needed to get the Books teleported out," Cassandra says. "And I'm pretty sure that wasn't even the real Ba'al's main goal. If anything it was a happy go-lucky coincidence. If he'd gotten that last transmitter anywhere else... I think he'd just have left without taking anything else."

"So... what now?" Rider asks.

"We warn Atlantis, Diaspora, and D'ni of the book thefts and tell them to secure their book rooms more tightly," General Landry advises. "I doubt Ba'al will use the books- he'll know we're guarding them, but... it's a security risk they need to be aware of."

"Agreed," O'neill says. "He took a hell of a risk attacking his own clones through us like that, and made sure none of our staff were permanently hurt- atleast, by him. The other clones didn't seem to have the same reservations."

"If another clone, or worse, Damara, gets a hold of those books," Cassandra hisses in pain as she nurses a small cut to her forehead from when she got stunned. "It could be really bad."

"Makes you wonder, though," you say. "What the hell did Damara really do to piss Ba'al off so badly to make him kill his own clones?"

"No," Cassandra says. "What it makes me wonder is how all of this happened so easily. Ba'al was too prepared for this. He knew way too much about our systems too..." She snaps her fingers, and then winces at the sound. "Barrett. None of this would have happened if he hadn't broken into that cell, breaching protocol."

O'neill nods, "I'll have the Tok'ra run him over for brainwashing, just to be on the safe side. If he's been compromised, we'll get him clean."

And so it's with that somber mood that you consider the whole endeavor of the last day with nothing short of a resigned feeling of having been played.

It's not a good feeling one bit.

Less than an hour later, a thumb drive full of stolen Gate Addresses was returned with a letter- "Sorry for the other Me's incredible rudeness. - BA'AL #1."

Needless to say, the feeling of having been played increased ten fold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A Bearing Of Ba'als walk into the SGC, only one walks out. What's the punchline?
> 
> So. Uh. YEAH. Ba'al just went and did that. Slippery bastard, isn't he?
> 
> Gosh, this was a fun episode to write. Ba'al proves once again why he's such a dastardly antagonist despite being a lowly mortal with no real grasp of Ascended powers or supernatural abilities. He doesn't need that. He's *smart* and he knows it- and that's a flaw his clones have inherited because they think they can out-smart THEMSELVES. But they can't, because they didn't have all the pieces in place. Didn't understand what this was about.
> 
> This wasn't about stealing anything- oh sure, stealing the Linking Books was a great side-achievement- but that wasn't what Ba'al was actually after here. Oh, no. He was genuinely cleaning shop and his other clones didn't *realize* that. Poor #13 was probably the closest to figuring it out, and went after #1 to get the upper hand... alas, he failed and just facilitated the demise of so many other clones. 
> 
> So, yeah. That's a thing that just happened. Can I just say, I *love* Writing Ba'al. He's such an amazing character. XD


	10. SGA:02X20: Allies (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1/2. The Hiveship arrives at Atlantis.

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 20TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 10/29/0005.**  
  
Your name is Mikari Aiikho, and you sit silently as the bare minimum of crew for the City's cloaked operation sits within the Control Room. It's you, Argo, AR-2, and just Zelenka working the rest of the systems.

"Keiko?" You ask. "Anything?"

"Negative, ma'am. Scans are still clear. It's just the one Hive Ship on approach."

"And the cloak?" 

"Up and running, all systems in the green," she answers.

"Good." You tab your rdaio, "Colonel Caldwell, are you in position?"

 _"Affirmative, the Daedalus is out of scanning range and ready to jump into position on your command,"_ Caldwell answers.

"Excellent," you say.

 _"Just for the record, I still think we should be in orbit around Atlantis, ready to open fire the second it comes out of hyperspace. Incinerate it with a single Hyperbeam and we're done with it."_  
  
"It's just one hive," you tell him. "And a very advanced one at that, given its rate of travel. It might be an advance scout. If it reports back nothing at all..."  
  
_"I know, I know,"_ Caldwell relents. _"We could end up facing more than just one Hive. We're standing by."_

"Good," you glance at the screen showing three dots- one moving, the Wraith Hive, and two stationary, Daedalus and the AURORA. You then ask, "Colonel Sheppard, how goes it on your end?"

 _"Well, we're out of sensor range, but whether or not the Aurora ready to fight is another story,"_ John Sheppard replies.

Mckay chimes in, _"Getting the Bridge in functioning order in under a month was a miracle as it was, let alone everything else we've had to do to get it ready. We'll be lucky to get Shields AND Weapons even with a ZPM supplementing the existing power supply which was already incredibly drained, and it's probably going to be one or the other if it comes to a fight."_  
  
"Rodney," you begin, "if that Hive opens fire, I want the Aurora's Drones to-"

 _"I Know! Which means we need hyperdrive AND shields, and EVERYTHING! And I'm trying!"_ He snaps his fingers audibly. "Shields?" A pause. _"Yes._ Jump to position?" Another, slightly longer pause. " _That's a Maybe._ Release the Drones?" A just as long pause. "Probably Not!"

"Well, it's pointless to get in position if we can't-" John is cut off.

_"Fire. I KNOW! I'm WORKING ON IT! Now let me be and stop asking me inane questions!"_

_"...Mckay's working on it,"_ John says after a moment, and you see Argo smile at that. 

"Contact," Keiko reports. "Wraith Hiveship is dropping out of Hyperspace."

The city was silent as the single Wraith Hiveship exited hyperspace and loomed overhead. 

_"Atlantis, Report?"_ Caldwell asks.

"It's going into geosynchronous orbit," Zelenka reports. "Weapons are not arming."  
  
"If they do, switch to shield from cloak as fast as possible, don't wait for my order," you give the command.

There's a long, silent pause as everyone waits. 

"Are they scanning?" You ask.

"No," Zelenka answers. "They're just sitting there and-" he stops. "Wait. They're transmitting a signal, audio only... Standard Alternian Encryption?" He blinks, as do you, and everyone else in the control room.

"On Speaker," you order.

 _"-lantis,"_ says a stubbornly familiar voice. _"We know you're there. We mean no harm. Please respond."_

"Um...?" Tyzias begins, "Isn't that-?"  
  
_"Yeah,"_ John replies, _"That sounds a lot like-"_

 _"I repeat,"_ the voice says, _"This is Aiden Ford. We mean you no harm. There's no point in hiding, Atlantis. We know you're there. We mean no harm. Please respond."_

"Ford," You swallow. 

* * *

 

[ **O < \--- STARGATE: ATLANTIS --- >O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0)

* * *

 

You are now Keiko Ayano, and you work your jaw.

"We're not seriously considering answering, are we?" Mallek asks.

"It's Ford, and he has a fucking Wraith Hiveship somehow," Mikari shakes her head. "Needless to say our cover's blown either way. And he'll know our position on the planet regardless, if he intends to kill us. There's no way we can get out of this without responding." 

After several moments of pause, she gives the order, "Raise the shield and open a communication channel."

You do so, "I'm making it known that I really don't like this one bit."

"Noted," MIkari says, and then...

There's a burst of static on a nearby screen, and you all watch as a video link is established.

Aiden Ford grins and throws his arms out wide. _"Finally! I was beginning to think you were giving me the cold shoulder! The shield is a bit much, though."_

"I think we can all say that we weren't expecting you to actually be on the other end," Mikari speaks, looking at the camera mounted to that screen. "What excactly are you doing here, Aiden?"

 _"Isn't it obvious?"_ He smiles. _"First and Foremost, I'm here to help you test your retro virus."_

"How do you intend to help us with it?" Mikari asks.

"For starters?" Ford smiles a feral grin that sets your wolf instincts on edge _. "I have a Hive Ship just full of Wraith put in Suspended Animation. Now for Part two of why I'm here. I have a Hiveship!! I know you want to test out your new Super-weapon against the Wraith Hives in this Galaxy. The Other Virus. The one you learned from the Aurora."_

"Seriously?" You hear Daraya mutter, "How does he know about Those!?" Mallek puts a hand on her shoulder, and Tyzias does the same for the other shoulder. 

"While this is all incredibly fascinating, and incredibly lucky," Mikari says, "I'm wondering just where the hell you got this Hiveship from, especially one full of Hibernating Wraith!"

 _"See, without a large enough food source, most of the Wraith have turned to infighting,"_ Ford explains. _"Some, though, decided to return to hibernation to wait it out, even if only for another few months. Their meager guards easily fellyto my crew."_

"Your Crew?" Argo asks, stepping forwards. "The last time you had a crew you got them all killed and nearly got John's team killed too!"

 _"I know,"_ Ford says, winking with his black eye as he brings up a second feed, transmitting it to you. _"And for that, I'm incredibly sorry."_

The second transmission shows Elwurd's missing band of marauders, mulling about the Wraith Hiveship's bridge, and elsewhere in the Hive.

You bite back a breath of shock. How the fuck did they get to Pegasus!?

Ford looks straight into the camera, and doesn't blink as he says, _"The loss of life was unforgivable and I'm never, ever going to let it happen again. I'm a changed man. I swear."_ He raises up two crossed fingers to his forehead in a faux salute. "Scouts Honor."

...That Mother Fucker!! He wants to kill Elwurd's crew and using you to do it!

"I see," Mikari hesitates. 

_"And I can see you're hesitating,"_ Ford says. _"I know, it's too good to be true, right? Well. Here. As a show of good faith."_ He sends another transmission down.

"Data burst incoming," you report, "Siphoning it to a non networked, firewalled computer."

"Good," Mikari nods.

 _"In the mean time,"_ Ford says, _"I'm sure you'll want to recall all the ships you have waiting for us to make the wrong move, as you'll want to discuss this in person with everyone. But... just so you know? Make any attempt to destroy us, and we WILL wake up the Wraith on this ship, and THEY WILL alert every Wraith in this Galaxy that Atlantis is intact."_

And then he ends the communication burst.

"What did we get?" Mikari asks, turning towards you.

"Checking..." You peer over the data's first few lines of dialogue, handily translated from Wraith to English by Ford, no doubt to make it easier for you to read and... and comprehend this Utterly Terrifying First Sentence. "Oh fuck us."

"What is it?" She asks.

"Everything you've ever wanted to know about the Wraith's anti-beaming technology and history," you answer, peering up to look at her. "They've Fought Asgard before."

* * *

 

Your name is John Sheppard, and you briefly give Argo a quick hug as you reunite on the way to the Conference room.  
  
"How's Jade?" Argo asks.

"Holding the fort with the Aurora for now out of sensor range," you say. "She's really taken to the idea of being a ship captian, I think. That, and she said she'd punch Ford in the nose if she saw him face to face."

"Me too," Argo says. 

"Let's not be hasty now, he did apparently give us a lot of Wraith stuff and the fact that he's got Elwurd's crew onboard," you say. "If we're lucky, we can scoop them all up and get Ford treatment."

"If he even lets himself get captured," Argo shakes their head. "Fucker thinks he can just waltz back into our lives whenever he wants to? God... I just wanna slug the arrogance right out of him!"

"I know," you say. "But let's hold that on the back burner for now."

You arrive in the Conference room, just in time to get there as Beckett and Fraiser arrive, retrieved from off world. 

"Well," Caldwell was saying as you entered, "I think it's safe to say if Ford was going to attack us, he wouldn't have let the Daedalus land without incident."

"And the Aurora?" Mikari asks.

"Still outside of sensor range," you say.

"Good," Mikari nods, then looks to Mckay. "Rodney? How's it going?"

"Well, Ford sent the original Wraith and his translation which- let me just say is flawless for someone who hadn't studied Ancient before," Mckay says, "and well, it's basically exactly what it says on the tin. The Wraith, for some time during the war with the Ancients, had a series of skirmishes with a branch of the Asgard that had come to this Galaxy, presumably at the Ancients request. After the Wraith suffered a series of losses thanks to the beaming technology, they implemented a fleet wide protocol against beaming tech into their ships, and they beat the Asgard and the Ancients back from the minor series of Victories they'd put out. It's the same protocol they've been using all these years since, always active, just incase of emergency, or the Asgard showed up again, which, considering they vanished shortly after the Wraith implemented the protocols, seems to suggest they died out here."

"Shame," Mikari says, "we could have used their help if they were still around." 

"So, what do we do with this?" Caldwell asks.

"If Ford's willing to let us test our beaming tech against the Wraith ship's jamming protocols, we should be able to come up with a work around," Keiko says. 

"What excuse do we have for that, though?" you ask. "We're seriously not going to try using the Retro Virus on the Wraith he has prisoner on that ship, are we?"

"We'll say we're testing dummy canisters for it, but...." Keiko smiles. "I think we can beat it, give or take a few tries."

"Good..." Mikari nods. "...So what do we do about Elwurd's crew?"

"Ford clearly wants them dead," Tyzias says. "And I can't blame him after the shit they pulled, making the rift."

"If we can successfully beam  things Onto a Wraith Ship, i don't see how it could be any harder to beam things off," Argo says. "And we beam them off directly into the ocean. At depth."

You glance at Argo, and you see a glint in their eyes- furious flames seem to dance across their glimmering orange surface. 

"Ah, that's a bit too soon for me," Mckay whimpers. "That imagery."

"Sorry," Argo says, "but we can't trust them, and if Ford doesn't either? Fuck 'em, I say."

"I'd like to say-" Beckett speaks up then, at the first open lull in the conversation, "-I think it'd be a great opportunity to actually manufacture and test the Retrovirus in an Aerosol form. If we can actually beam onboard the retro virus... we'd be able to take out whole Hiveships."

"And what happens when those humanized Wraith turn back into humans?" Fraiser asks. "Because last I heard we were still giving Mike his treatments daily to keep him from reverting."

"Hell, we don't know how long it'll take to transform a wraith to human in a gaseous form anyways," Mallek chimes in.

"Exactly why we should try it out on the Wraith themselves, if we have a ready supply," Beckett says. 

"We'll send someone to Alternia via the linking books," Mikari says. "Inform The SGC and the Alternian Government of the situation, and see what they advise. Tentatively, I'll say that I believe it's in our best interests to play along with Ford, if only to accomplish rudimentary testing on the Viruses, as well as capture Elwurd's crew."

* * *

 

The SGC and IOA approved the experiments on the captured Wraith, while Alternia disapproved, and Doctors Beckett and Fraiser worked on different aspects of the retrovirus- Beckett the aerosolization, and Fraiser the more permanent aspects of it, to be applied after the aerosolized version to make it permanent.

Meanwhile, Rodney Mckay, Morgan Carter, Keiko Ayano, Tyzias Entykk, Mallek Adalov, and the Asgard Hermiod were working on the beaming work around. Doctors Freeman and Kae, also meanwhile, worked on the final touches for the signal based upload of the virus targeting the Computers of Wraith Hiveships- if the workaround for the beaming tech couldn't be managed, this was the next safest bet to cause it to work.

Ford gladly loaned them a Cruiser to experiment with- a cruiser that would carry the first Wraith Experiment down to them, guarded, of course, by two 'humans' who were really Mofang in disguise.

As much as it pained Atlantis Security to let them be, they did.

The first Wraith-to-human trial with the Aerosolized Retro Virus took a little over eleven hours to complete manufacturing as a gas form, and a further twelve hours to actually convert a Wraith to a Human. 

Beckett focused his efforts on making a faster version next, but for the time being, it would work.

Meanwhile, the crew working on the Beaming problem hid a road block... but Freeman and Kae got their remotely downloadable virus working, and the jamming abilities of the cruiser were 'given a cold' and it no longer blocked the transport of a small little innocuous canister onto the ship.

And thus, a trial run on Ford's Hiveship was in order... And that was where they ran into a problem.

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 22ND, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 10/31/0005.**

"Unfortunately to beam the Gas effectively through the Hiveship," you are now Rodney Mckay, "we're going to need to target their life support systems, and unfortunately, we don't know Where On a Hiveship that is."

Ford, still through transmission, grunted. _"Yeah. That's a tricky thing alright. But, I think I can help you out there."_

And then the sent another data burst- this time, containing the constructional schematics of a Wraith Hiveship.

You're practically salivating over the data to the point you nearly forgot to save it to a non networked firewalled computer- except then a warning notice popped up on screen, containing a single message:

_"Save. It. Securely! - Cassandra"_

Right. Heh. You almost forgot about that,

You ensure it's properly saved... and decide to take screenshots of every piece of data just to be on the safe side.

* * *

 

The tests went as planned, conducted several times to ensure authenticity, and was a success, but upon hearing of said success, someone in the IOA insisted on several tests, one of which would be a field test on an unknown Wraith Hiveship before any capture of Elwurd's crew could or would be performed.

Ford insisted on taking his hiveship with them to partake in the battle.

And so with the Daedalus hiding under the wing of the Hiveship, they went to target the closest Hiveship within range.

A few hours of Hyperspace travel later, they emerged, and the enemy Hiveship began opening fire immediately- suspiciously wary of any foreign hiveships showing up out of the blue unannounced.

The Beaming Block Disabling Virus was quickly broadcast, and then the Retro Virus Canisters were beamed over.

Immediately the enemy hiveship went silent... because it immediately exploded.

The question of the day was "What the hell was that!?"

In the time it took to get back to Atlantis, the consensus was made that the enemy Hiveship simply had different enough morphology within it that where the ventilation system on one ship was, say... something that reacted explosively to a gas being introduced into it, such as the engines.

Needless to say, certain members of the IOA suddenly wanted to do another test run, just "to be on the safe side" and to "see if that had just been a fluke" caused by the beaming, or if it was due to the virus meant to disable the beaming block.

That said, they were pulling serious muscle this time, and were pushing for another test sooner rather than later, and were postponing Elwurd's capture for longer and longer...

The threats of funding changes being made just reeks of the Trust, though, is the general opinion of everyone involved by it. It was incredibly out of character from their so-far lazy hands-off approach,

And so, despite the SGC, Alternia, and Atlantis all protesting against another test run, the order was given again to find another Hiveship to target.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 23RD, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 11/01/0005.**

"They're stalling for time," Elwurd declared firmly.

"You sure about that, sis?" Marvus asks.

"Of course I am. All this back and forth... Ford sold us out to them. The virus we planted in those data bursts hasn't gotten us what we wanted yet, so either Ford stripped it out of the bursts, or the bastards in Atlantis caught it and have been toying with us. All of this reeks of them playing for time."

A Carapacian points out they can beam onto the ship whenever they want, what's stopping them from beaming THEM out?

"Exactly," Elwurd says. "What's stopping them? They're stalling for time, I dunno why, and I don't care to know why. We're being played. I'm done with this shit."

"What do we do?" a Mofang asks.

"The minute we drop out of Hyperspace, we kick Ford off, take our ship, and leave," Elwurd decides.

* * *

 

And so they dropped out of Hyperspace- Ford's Hiveship once more cloaking the Daedalus beneath its wings...

The enemy Hiveship did not move to engage, instead sitting curiously.

They broadcast a simple text message to Ford's Hive- "Are you Queenless as well? Teamup? Alliance? Fight Not Wanted But We Will Fight Back If Needed."

Ford, unfortunately, never saw it, because Marvus slammed him in the back of the head with a massive club, and then had one of the Mofang shoot him with a Wraith stunner for good measure.

Elwurd's reply was straight forwards. "Queen frozen in Stasis. Forced by Atlantians to attack other Hives. Their Ship beneath Ours, attempting to beam onboard virus gas into life support systems. Send Darts, then Open Fire when We Move Out Of Position. We Will take You To Atlantians Hideout."

And thus, the die was cast. Elwurd nodded to Marvus when they received an affirmative from the opposite Hive... and their Darts began to fly out, seemingly to target Ford's Hive.

The Daedalus crew prepared to launch the 302s in retaliation...

And then Ford's Hiveship broke cover, and the enemy Hiveship opened fire on the now exposed BC-304.

A Battle quickly ensued, stunning the Daedalus, and holding it at bay for long enough for Ford's commandeered Hiveship to move into position alongside the other

Hive, which begins to reclaim their Darts quickly, and then...

The Daedalus fires off two Hyperbeam blasts, aimed at destroying both Hiveships.

Unfortunately, Ford's Hive takes cover behind the other one, using it as a shield to tank both blasts, and giving it time to escape into Hyperspace.

* * *

 

You are now Colonel Steven Caldwell, and you swear at the double cross while damage reports come in from all over the ship... because one thing is immediately obvious.

Elwurd double crossed you all.

"Sir, one of the 302s failed to return," Marks says. "Sheppard and Truman's- Eagle One."

"...Well, shit," you swear. "Wreckage or debris?"

"No, Sir. Their Transponder is simply gone."

....Fuck.

"Get me a status report, then radio Atlantis," you order. "Mikari's not going to like this."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, that went about as well as could be expected. Really should've just arrested Elwurd's crew first and foremost. Wonder what the IOA was thinking there?
> 
> Oh. Wait.
> 
> THEY WEREN'T.


	11. SGA:03X01: No Man's Land. (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Featuring an over abundance on Italics. Why do I do this to myself?

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 23RD, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/01/0005.**  
  
"Enemy Hiveship is launching Darts!" Marks calls out.

"Colonel!" Caldwell orders. "Get the 302s in the air! Counter the Darts, and take out their Hyperdrive if you can!"

"Roger!" You are now Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard, and you double time it to the 302 bay.

You partner up with Scott Truman, whose 302 Co-Pilot was hurt in the last fight, and you rocket out of the Daedalus.

 _"I've got incoming!"_ Gem calls out over the inter-ship radio.

 _"Same!"_ Gemma radios, confirming that.

"Eagles 3, 4, let's keep those Darts off our six," Scott declares. "Sheppard, think you can make those Darts Explode remotely?"

"I can sure as hell try," you say, focusing on the breeze and trying to lock onto the life support of the Darts flying at you.

"Meanwhile-!" Scott growls. "Looks like half the Darts are pursuing Eagles 5 and 6. 3, 4, we've got the other half!"

You get a grasp on those Darts and their life support, and you whip up a fierce storm of wind blades within the cockpits.

Those Darts stop cold in their tracks as their cockpits explode apart.

"Got some!" You say. "Colonel! What's the status on-?"

 _"We're unable to get a lock on either Hiveship. It looks like Elwurd figured out a way to work around our workaround of the Beaming Block and shared it with their new friend."_ Caldwell answers.

"MARK! FOX FOUR!" Scott calls out, and a missile fires off and blows up more darts.

 _"This is a wash!"_ Caldwell radios. _"All 302s, clear the Hiveships, we're going to open fire with Hyperbeam the moment we have a clean shot at both!"_

 _"We've taken fire!"_ Gem radios. _"Wait- why aren't they finishing us? They're... retreating?_

"Can you-" Scott stops. "Wait, they're retreating to the Hiveships. And..."

"Fords is acting weird." You say, watching it move. "Shit! They're moving to get behind the other Hiveship like it's a shield! They're going to break for hyperspace!"

"Gem, Gemma, can you get full thrust to punch after that Hive?" Scott asks.

 _"No, we can't!" / "Too much damage, Scott!"_  
  
"Then return to Daedalus!" Scott then punches the 302's engines. 

"What are we doing?" You ask.

"Something Power Ranger-ish, probably!" Scott says, swerving the 302 around Darts and moving to go in after Ford's Hive's Hyperdrive.

"Oh! Good, because I was going to say if I were flying I'd be doing this exact same thing!" you say.

"Glad to know we're on the same page then!" Scott answers.

You swoop in close to Ford's Hiveship, and see the glow of the hyperdrive engines lighting up-

"Even if we shoot now we're never going to stop it!" You say. 

And then the Daedalus opens fire with Hyperbeam and Blasts the other Hiveship.

The Explosion's shockwave catches your 302 and sends you hurtling into the lower hull of Ford's Hiveship.

"SHIT!" Scott swerves the angle and you slam down on the MAGNETIC CLAMPS button for all the good it will probably not do you--

And then suddenly everything is moving in a VERY different way as somehow your 302 attaches itself onto the Hiveship's Hull and gets dragged along into Hyperspace in just the right way so as to NOT get splatted against the Hiveship as it accelerates to massive speeds through the forming window.

For a few moments, it's jut silence- nothing but you and Scott breathing heavily as you watch the wash of hyperspace energy flow by overhead...

"Did we _seriously_ just survive that somehow?" Scott asks.

"I think we just did," you answer. "How the hell did we survive that?"

"I have no idea," Scott answers. "But I'm sure as hell glad we did."

You stare up at the glowing field of Hyperspace above you. "One things for certain... this is new."

"I'll say," Scott agrees.

* * *

 

**O < \--- [STARGATE: ATLANTIS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0) \--- >O**

* * *

 

You are now Mikari Aiikho, and you storm into the Control Room with a barely restrained fury in your limbs.  
  
"Colonel Caldwell," you immediately get on the Radio. "Please Tell Me you have good news to report."

 _"Sorry, Miss Aiikho,"_ Caldwell says. _"We don't. Elwurd back-stabbed Ford and us, not to mention the Hiveship we were targeting. They worked around our beaming workaround somehow, and we were forced to use Hyperbeam against one of the Hives, destroying it. Unfortunately, We think Ford's Hive escaped into Hyperspace and is heading to who knows where."_

"We're tracking it," you say. "It's heading out and away from Atlantis at the same staggeringly fast speeds it has before. If it stays on that straight line trajectory, It might pass the edge of the Galaxy in a matter of days, on a beeline course straight to Alternia. If the Wraith onboard that cruiser wake up and the other Wraith sense where they're going-?"

 _"I know,"_ Caldwell says. _"Unfortunately, we took some damage in that fight, in addition to the last one. Our Hyperdrive is out of commission for the moment, in addition to the inaccessible decks. We're not going anywhere."_

You breathe tensely.

"I feel you need to be advised, Colonel," you tell him, "The IOA is already demanding to know the results of this attempt. They were already insinuating the blame for this should fall on you if this last mission failed. Idiots. When I tell them about this, I'm sure they're going to try to pin the blame on me, too. I might not be here when all of this shakes down."

"What?" Caldwell asks. _"Who in their right mind is-? It's not_ Woolsey, _is it?"_

"No," you say. "Unfortunately, he's been shoved out of the loop on this one for voting against performing another beaming test after the last Hiveship attempt. The rest of the War Hawks want to know if we've had success on this or not. Needless to say Alternia and the SGC also voted against it, but the IOA is pulling weight it hasn't bothered to as of late. I think someone either got Snake'd, or is realizing they could stand to make a lot of money off of this retro-virus if it works against the Wraith."

"Naturally," Caldwell grunts. _"I'll see what I can do about the Hyperdrive. What are we going to do about Ford's Hive in the meantime?"_

"I'll be dispatching the Aurora to try to intercept it at its next predicted stopping point," you say. "If we're lucky, we can destroy it before it exits the Galaxy and alerts the other Wraith as to where our homeworlds are."

 _"Send me the time frame when you have it, and we'll try to meet it,"_ Caldwell answers. _"If this fails, though... you know what you're asking us to do, right?"_

"I do," you say. "That's why if you can manage to get your Hyperdrive operational again, I'm requesting you make a pit stop at the first planet that has a Stargate and beam off everyone who doesn't want to risk dying so they can Gate back to Atlantis. This is Volunteer Only. Hopefully it won't come to it, but..."

 _"...Understood."_ Caldwell pauses. Then, says, _"You should also be aware. Sheppard and Truman are missing. Their 302 failed to return after the last skirmish, and we were unable to find wreckage or debris corresponding to their fighter. We think they were either caught up in the unstable backwash of the Hyperspace window and scattered, or..."_

"Or?" you ask.

_"Somehow, they hitched a ride."_

* * *

"Okay," Scott says, "we can't sit here forever. Can we detach and hit them while they're in Hyperspace? Is that possible?"

You think back to a conversation you overheard between Zelenka and Mckay one fine day a few days back in the cafeteria...

_"There's no reason to believe that their hyperspace field is any different from our own," Mckay was saying. "And we can't launch 302s from the Daedalus while in hyperspace."_

_"No," Zelenka countered. "I'm simply talking about maneuvering within the field, not passing through it. What do you think?"_  
  
Annnd then you were snapped back to attention by Jade as she asked you what your opinion was on something.

"Aaah... I really need to pay more attention to Rodney and Zelenka when they're rambling about science stuff," you admit. "I have no clue."

"Won't do that then," Scott says. 

* * *

Your name is Mikari Aiikho, and you growl, frustrated, as you Gate back to Earth to talk to the IOA.

They're being so stubborn about this. You tell them that their own insistence on putting off the capture of WANTED CRIMINALS has backfired on them just the once, and they go and recall you to REPORT IN PERSON! What idiots.

What fucking idiots, you think as you step through the wormhole.

They're going to fire you over this, you just know it. And despite Okurii and General O'neill both voting otherwise, the IOA's pulling threats on funding to get their way. 

If you didn't know any better, you'd say the Trust got their claws in deep... Again.

That honestly wouldn't be the most outlandish thing at this stage.

"Welcome back, Mikari," O'neill's waiting for you at the other end of the Gate as you emerge.

"You know, I was seriously considering disobeying," you say. "This is all on their heads. Not Mine."

"Yeah, I know," O'neill says. "I'm filing a complaint to the President the minute you step into their office. Woolsey's doing one too."

"Can't imagine THAT's going to go well for him," you say.

"Nope," O'neill shakes his head. "I heard one of his 'friends' shout at him, that if he loved Atlantis so much he could go work there for the rest of his life."

"Ouch," you wince. "That's... Extreme."

"If I can get the President and their other superiors to sign off on it, I'm having the whole IOA checked for Ba'als brainwashing- symbiote based or otherwise," O'neill says. "This is just too much too fast."

"What do they want from me, do you think?" You ask. 

"To Cover their Asses, probably," O'neill shakes his head. "Okurii's rushing over just as soon as she finishes signing a bunch of complaint forms from her side of things."

"Good," you say. "At this rate, if the 'Independent Oversight Authority' isn't properly doing their jobs... then what good even are they?" 

And thus, you arrive at a briefing room door.

"Good luck, Mikari," O'neill puts a hand on your shoulder. "You've got my backing and the support of everyone else on this base except for those bozos in there."

"Into the lions den," you say. "No pressure."

And thus, you enter the realm of politics once more.

* * *

The Hiveship exits Hyperspace, and hoo boy, is that a view.

Alternia Galaxy and Milky Way Galaxy floating across from you, a glowing rift in space between them.

"Okay," you say, "it's probably time to do some damage."

"Agreed," Scott says, beginning the power up sequence for disengaging the clamps. "How do you want to do this?"

"In a perfect world, launch a nuke down their throats," you say. "...But it's not perfect. We've only got a few missiles left... We take out their Hyperdrive, and then..."

"Then what?" Scott asks.

 _"...Sheppard, if you can hear me,"_ and then Ford's voice suddenly cuts into the radio, sounding groggy and tired. _"Elwurd just clubbed me over the back of the head and strapped me into a Dart. I think they were planning on jettisoning me out into space but didn't get the chance before they had to flee. I think they forgot about me honestly. Idiots."_

You radio back, "Well, howdy, Ford. How'd you know we were here?"

 _"Lucky guess based on the ten million other times you somehow pulled that insane stunt off?"_ Ford sounds like he's shrugging, or- wait, no, there's the sound of a knife being pulled free of a sheath, and cutting something cloth like. Or rope like, even. _"It's like... a freaking cosmic fixed point. I don't see a timeline where you don't pull it off. But maybe those are timelines I'm not there. Or maybe I'm not looking hard enough. I've got a bit of a headache right now and I'm not even able to refresh the enzyme right now. Fuckers dosed me with something while I was out."_

"Well," Scott says, "as fascinating as all of this is to know... I'm coming back to that same question. What's The Plan?"

 _"You guys cut loose and blast the hyperdrive, I'll cut loose and..."_ Ford laughs as there's the sound of something snapping. _"Shoot up the Dartbay. Get some secondary explosions going. Then, we fly out of here while they explode, and get as far away as we can and wait for the Daedalus to arrive and get us out and home free."_

"That simple?" You ask.  
  
_"The bastards back stabbed me, but they didn't think to realize that I was going to backstab them, too."_ Ford laughs, again, unnervingly. _"They need me onboard the ship to do anything. I'm mimicking Wraith DNA to keep it functioning. Suspended Animation Wraith don't count, for whatever reason. Once I drop that... or I leave range? They can't even power on weapons."_  
  
"So if they sent you to space, they'd be screwing themselves over," Scott shakes his head. "You know, if you'd asked me a few weeks ago, I'd say the craziest thing I've ever seen or heard was meeting myself from another dimension. But this has to take the cake. Do you know how long it'll take before the Daedalus arrives?"

 _"...Long enough a 302 will run out of life support,"_ Ford says. _"But fortunately for us... this Hiveship has a bunch of cruisers onboard. And THOSE will last a lot longer. I'm going to steal one, and do the damage through that. And then you guys can hitch a ride with me."_

"Well, that sounds like a plan," you say. "And honestly, I don't have anything better."

 _"I'll let you know when I'm ready,"_ Ford says. _"Going Radio Silent Until Then."_

"Roger that," Scott says.

* * *

 

You are now Richard Woolsey, and you're anxiously awaiting the metting you've been so coldy cut out of to end.

To think that your own people would slight you like this...

You hear the door unlock, and then start to be opened- and thus you catch Mikari's parting words.

"I have instructed Atlantis to contact the SGC when the Aurora and Daedalus are departing, but if you want to overturn my standing orders at that time, you're going to have to go ahead and fire me first."

And with that, she angrily pulls the door shut.

"Well?" You ask.

"I'm pissed off, Woolsey," she says. "I'm pissed off at how short sighted they are. I told them exactly how I followed procedure and how it was THEIR insistence that caused this mess. They didn't want to listen." She shakes her head. "They made it abundantly clear they just want to stall for time and hope for the best case scenario to magically poof itself into existence, and then blame whoever they can when things go wrong regardless."

"I'm severely disappointed in them," you say. "This went far beyond protocol, recalling you like that."

"In the half hour I was in there, they shifted blame from Caldwell, to me, to literally half the members of my expedition who weren't even present for the decision making process," Mikari says, even as the gate alarms sound off. "And that's probably Atlantis." She heads for the Control Room.

"They're going to never reach a decision in that amount of time," you say, starting to head for the Control Room after her. "Not even if they had a day to, as long as the situation is up in the air."

  
"Let's hope it resolves peacefully, then," MIkari says.  
  


* * *

  
The Alternian girl whose real name was unknown, but went by the alias ELWURD presently, smiled as the programming for the next hyperspace jump was coded in. All they had to do to wait now was for the ship to recover from its already lengthy hyperspace journey.

That was the frustrating part of all of this so far. The long pauses after traveling through hyperspace just to let the Hiveship recover and-

"Uh, Captain Elwurd?" A a shy Mofang began. "Our sensors just detected a small vessel buzzing around the rear hyperdrive emitters."

"It's probably a malfunction," Ewlurd decided. "And even if it isn't, what's the worst one Dart or 302 could cause back there?" Still.. It never hurt to be anything but cautious. "Still. Lock onto it with weapons and fire."

"We can't."

Elwurd turned on him. "And why the fuck not?"

"Our weapons systems just went offline." And then the lights dimmed on the bridge. "Annnnd we just lost sensors, internal and external annnnd..."  
And the air suddenly stilled.

"Let me guess," Elwurd scowled. "We just lost life support?"

Then, the ship rocked from a massive explosion.

"I'd be willing to bet we just lost hyperdrives too?" The Mofang paused as there was a series of more loud explosions, growing louder and louder, rocking the ship with each burst. "Oh no."

"What the fuck was that!?" would be Elwurd's final words, as the next in a series of secondary explosions rocked through the Hiveship's bridge.

* * *

 

Well in the distance away from the exploding Hiveship, a Wraith Cruiser and a F-302 watched the fireworks.

"You know," John voiced, "I think we hit something critical there."

"Yep," Scott agreed. "Lots of something critical. I'd bet they were storing fireworks inside or something."

 _"Probably fireworks, yeah,"_ Ford scoffed. _"Idiots forgot to properly secure them in cargo, left them in the hanger bay."_

"That's one hell of a bang, either way," John remarks.

The 302 docked where Darts would, and the two pilots got out and joined Ford within the Cruiser, and thus, they waited.

Several hours later, the Daedalus and the Aurora arrived, reclaimed the Cruiser, and began a thorough clean sweep of the wreckage to ensure nothing survived the destruction of the Hiveship.

Anything that HAD survived received a thorough cleansing from the fabric of reality courtesy of the Daedalus' Hyperbeam lasers.

* * *

Your name is Mikari Aiikho, and you pause during your pacing around the SGC hallways as Mister Woolsey catches up to you. What does he want? The IOA Ambassadors have 'finished conversing' and would 'like to continue debriefing' you.

Your answer to them is no. "I'm not going to sit there and have them rake me over a molten lava field for every decision I've made since I took over Atlantis."

"Miss Aiikho," Woolsey begins, "you know that all of us have the greatest respect for you, but as far as the others have been oh-so-suddenly concerned, you haven't been the model employee of the month, let alone employee of the year."

"If the IOA wants to take issue with how I've done things now after THEY pushed things?" You say, "Then I seriously hope they take a seriously look at their own behavior, because it has been less than stellar with how little oversight they've actually put into anything until just now of all times."

"I sincerely agree," Woolsey says. "I just hope we both keep our jobs."

"One can hope," you agree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it? Elwurd and crew is dead? ....That's Almost certainly, probably, 100% almost completely positively...
> 
> ...What were we talking about again? 
> 
> Oh. Right. Those guys who almost erased themselves from the narrative already. Yeah. They've gone and removed themselves more permanently this time. Probably. Didn't see Marvus get caught up in an explosion there, though. He coulda taken a Dart and escaped somewhere. Maybe. Who knows, with Clowns like that. I certainly don't. 
> 
> ...What were we talking about again? Oh. Right. The IOA. They're being conspicuously suddenly proactive about things, aren't they? What the heck is up with THAT? That'll get covered in the next couple of chapters. What I can say now though, is that someone's gotten *very* high and mighty in their standings, all of a sudden.


	12. SGA:03x02/MINISODE: Misbegotten

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 27TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/05/0005.**  
  
Your name is Jack O'neill, and despite your best efforts...  
  
It seems that nobody has gotten their way.

It's not a win, or a loss. 

Elwurd and her crew are dead- Hiveship destroyed at the edge of Pegasus, and thus the IOA didn't get their further testing of the Gene Therapy Retro and Anti-Hive Viruses.

Richard Woolsey was in the 'doghouse'- being forced to return to Atlantis as "Direct Observation." And that meant that Mikari and everyone in Atlantis now was going to have an IOA Rep- a friendly one never the less- breathing down their necks for the foreseeable future. But atleast one positive out of all of this was that Mikari kept her job- for now- despite the IOA's clear attempts at firing her.

The IOA was flat out refusing to have their reps take the Goa'uld or Trust Brainwashing checks if administered by anyone in the SGC or the Alternian or any of Earth's Governments, and instead were insisting on 'outside independents' to run the tests, which they could easily flub by way of choosing someone already brainwashed or Snake'd if they so chose to. 

But that means...

You sigh.

That means you can't prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that the IOA reps had malicious intent with this. But considering that while they were doing this, they'd ALSO backed down on threatening Caldwell's job too, given that he has volunteered, cleared, and publicly stated he was volunteering to be tested without hassle in perpetuity if it ever came up against him again, and that if he ever DID protest it then he needed to be checked anyways. 

And while your friends and contemporaries in other governments are similarly frustrated by the IOA's stonewalling, you currently lack a majority to force anything, because...

Colonel Checkov, one of the only Russians you actually trust to have Earth's best interests in all of this, died on the Korolev when it went boom a few weeks ago. You think Russia's IOA rep is pissed off, all things considered. And as for France, who should have been backing you up on all of this, you just found out that their representative had been replaced for "Medical leave" just days before this current fiasco in Atlantis had happened. 

Okurii's throwing as calm of a political fit as she can over the IOA thing, and she's starting to rattle some boots... Because as far as Alternia is concerned, Elwurd being killed rather than captured has severely set back any and all attempts to seal the dimensional rift between galaxies by decades. Now nobody knows what her stake in all of this was even about. Lynera Skallbi is still in no mental state to talk, and the doctors, Earth and Alternian alike, all seem to think it's unlikely she ever will get over the trauma she suffered through inside the rift.

And then there's the whole BA'AL CLONES thing that has everyone ticked off, too. The D'ni Restoration Council are alarmed over the book thefts, The D'ni-through-Yeesha are insisting on isolated circuit anti-beaming jammers to be installed on all remaining unsecured books before they hand out any more to prevent further thefts, and... 

Well.

Then there's the Corinth Rift. The new attitude of the IOA is being directed at THAT too, insisting that Carter's plan for sealing it with Time Dilation Devices be halted and held off for MONTHS to 'further study' the rift that's study-able on both sides, rather that just one.

Atleast they're not trying to interfere with the Merlin Weapon hunt- for now. 

God. All of this is a fucking mess.

You miss the days when the IOA were just so lazy about their jobs.

Someone Jinxed it, not that it wasn't already too good to be true.

Your name is Jack O'neill... and you have _**such**_ a headache.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Brief breather to set things up. Tomorrow, an ALT chapter featuring Polypa, and then... hm... Two SG-1 chapters should close off the week I think?
> 
> Yes. That should do nicely. Especially given that the 2nd of those two chapters is "200" :D
> 
> After that, two Atlantis chapters- 3x3, IRRESISTABLE and 3x4: SATEDA. An SG-1 chapter, likely to follow, though maybe another ALT chapter... Hm. After that, more Atlantis, I suspect. Hoping to keep the pacing tighter this act, so hopefully not quite so fluffy of a timeline.


	13. ALT:10X01: The Assassin that Comes in Spring

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Polypa is approached for a job.

**EARTH DATE: MAY 1ST, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/09/0005.**

"Are you sure about this, Rose?"

"Yeah, I am. We gotta do this. It's the only option we have, if he has the influence to get the job he did."

* * *

 

**O) < \- [STARGATE: ALTERNIA](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHTke_0BlD0) \- >(O**

* * *

 

Your name is Polypa Goezee, and you are so rudely interrupted from LUSUS TIME with your little grub TOKO (OH TOKO, SO CUTE ITS LOCO!) by linking sound from outside. By the time you roll your eyes, pick up the little squirt from her playpen, and head over to the door, it's a knocking. 

"Yeah, what is it?" You answer, opening the door,

"Hey, Polypa," Rose and Roxy Lalonde stand there, dressed in their Atlantis Uniforms. "Can we come in?" Rose asks.

"Sure," you nod, and let them in. "What's up?"

"Is Joey or Mierfa home?" Rose asks yet again as she and her cloned parent enter the front room, closing the door behind them.

"Nope, they're out in town right now," you answer. "Should be back in a few hours."

"Good, that should give you some time to think on it, then," Roxy says.

"Think on what?" You ask him, not quite liking this turn of conversation. It feels vaguely... wet-work-y.

"I don't know how much you've heard or not," Roxy begins, "but my alternate self got contacted by her long lost sister. Technically my long lost sister too, but semantics."

"I think Joey mentioned something about that," you say. "Is there a problem with them?"

"Not Victoria specifically, no," Rose says, decaptchaloging a folder. You hand Toko over to Roxy, who takes the grub with a smile and a 'Hey there, Toko-Toko!', and then take the folder to open it.

"Who's this douchebag?" You ask of the picture of a grim looking fellow with grey-ish blonde hair, and a cold gaze in his eyes. He's youthful by earth standards, but damn if he doesn't look old in the eyes.

"Albert Monroe," Rose says. "And if I've done my genealogy right, he's the grandson of Albert de Blois, the deceased Marquis who fathered Victorique Gallo, and was later murdered by his mistress, Cordelia Gallo, Victorique's mother."

"And who's Victorique again?" You ask, frowning.

"My Grandmother," Roxy clarifies. "And Victoria's too. She and my biological parents had to go on the run, foisting me and Victoria off on close friends they could trust to hide us away."

"This sounds like something out of a mystery novel," you say, gazing back at the photograph. "So... you guys are coming to me specifically for this, i take it?"

"Yeah," Roxy nods. "We are." He shifts Toko in his arms when she fusses a little. "We did some digging after the events of the last week in Pegasus."

"Elwurd died cause the IOA didn't prioritize her capture, right?" You ask, and get nods in return. "Okurii was ranting a storm about that the other day. What's Albert Monroe got to do with it?" And he does, if they were prefacing with HIM.

"He's the newly appointed, Permanent French Ambassador of the IOA," Rose says. "The old one retired due to sudden health issues... and he passed away this morning due to them."

You glance down at the man in the photograph... "So... what? You think he finished hunting down the family that wasn't protected by the SGC and killed his way into the job?"

"It's less than think," Rose says. "Read the report. He's got a suspected rap-sheet a mile long."

So you do.

...This is an impressive list of international accidents and incidents, dating back the last thirty years, that were suspected to not be accidents at all, given the sighting of the same set of figures time and time again...

One of them is Albert Monroe. 

"...Damn," you whistle. "If he's really the one behind this like these reports say, why haven't they arrested the bastard?"

"Money," Roxy spits the word out like a poison. 

"The Marquise came from old money, and his family, even with the fall of his country, has stayed in old money. He's wanted internationally but nobody is willing to pin anything substantial on him." Rose then says:  "He also seems to be the driving force behind the new aggressive stance in the IOA."

"Damn," you say, closing the folder of hefty material. "So... what do you want me to do?"  
Rose breathes, then starts: "What we'd like you to think on is this."

You look up from the report and look the cat-girl in the eyes. "Alright. I'm listening."

"...Would you be willing to help us hunt down and kill this bastard before he causes us any more trouble?" Rose asks.

* * *

 

"Hey, Joey? Mierfa?" You ask later that afternoon at lunch- Rose and Roxy had gone off to pitch the recruitment at other people, before your Quadrant-mates returned.  
  
"Yeah?" Your Kismesis, Joey Claire, looks up from her meal. "What is it?"

"...I got a job offer today," you keep it simple. "If I take it up, I might have to go off the grid for a while."

"What kind of job is it?" your Moirail, Joey's Matesprit, Mierfa Durgas asks while narrowing her eyes.

Your answer is politely kept to, "Potential Wet Works. Details are classified beyond that. If I take it."

Glub, this is heavy. "If I take it"? You're already planning out who knows how many take downs of someone like this. Plus BS about it being classified...

"Classified?" Joey asks, not buying it. "I know I'm kinda semi-retired from all this shit at this point, but you'd think Okurii would mention it."

"Okurii doesn't know," you say. "Atleast, that's what I've been told. It's something... somewhere else. Not local to our Galaxy."

You're already slipping into old habits, again. Lying to people you care about.

A lie. A flat out, blatant, bold-ass lie, even if it's true. That said, Okurii definitely shouldn't be aware of this unless Rose and Roxy are running it by her, given the shit she's dealing with with the IOA and...

Hell, they might just bring her in on this.

"Shit," Mierfa laments. "I guess someone in Pegasus got too high and mighty, huh?"

"No," Joey says with a shake of her head. "It's Ba'al, isn't it? They want you to help hunt down the Real Ba'al and kill him."

You can't-

"Earth," you blurt out. "It's Earth." Shit shit shit shit- "Corinth Earth, but. It's Earth."

Joey stares for a moment, as does Mierfa-- Oh glub why couldn't you just keep your mouth shut- and then they nod. 

"Venjix made a mess over there," Joey agrees. "I guess you're already committed to taking it?"

You answer truthfully here, "I haven't said yes yet. But I... I think it's something I have to do."

Mierfa shakes her head. "I'd offer to go with you, but... they probably don't want too many people knowing at this point, do they?"

"No," you say. "They really don't."

You end up texting Rose after lunch, saying that you're in. They drop by for a proper visit later, all tired smiles and happy relief to not have a Wraith Hiveship hanging over their heads back in Pegasus. 

Tired, though, because apparently Ford escaped into the unknown again mere moments after the Daedalus returned to Atlantis. Slippery, dimension hopping bastard, that guy. But not your concern.

* * *

 

You're packing your bags for a mission for the first time since... since Joey stepped through the Stargate.

You're too damn noticeable as an Alternian. You let yourself get too identifiable. Too many distinguishing marks. Joey's tattoos are a source of eternal Pitched emotions, but... shit. You thought you were out of the game.

Then, Rose texts you with a message- she's borrowing Shaper from Kanaya, and you're to meet in Atlantis's Book Room, clandestine like, to have a 'change of appearance' before the job. The security cameras are supposed to be disabled courtesy of Roxy conducting 'maintenance.' 

That begs the question of how you're getting to Earth, but... well, you suppose Rose has it figured out somehow. Wait. No, the answer is obvious. Rose's warping powers. 

You tell Joey and Mierfa you're going, and give your goodbyes that aren't really goodbyes.

This job could go sideways so badly... But, you can't let it get to you.

You head to town, head to the book room, and Link to Atlantis.

You arrive, finding Rose and Roxy there, waiting.

"So, Shaper Disguise?" You ask, foregoing a greeting as you step away from the linking zone.

"I told Kanaya I'm going to switch Roxy's bio-gender with it," Rose says.

"And she is," Roxy says, nodding his head. "But she's also gonna turn you and your partner for this human for a while."

"Well, that'd make it harder for people to recognize me," you say. "Who's my partner?"

There's a sound, and then behind you appears Ashler Dering- or Vriska Serket, depending on the situation. You wonder which it will be?

"Hey," she greets.

"Glad you could make it, Ashler," Rose says.

"Vriska," she counters. "If we're doing this shit, I don't want it associated with my good name. But my old one?" A crack of a smile. "Well, that one's got enough baggage on it already."

Well, that answers that question.

"Aren't you on vacation?" You ask of the girl. "I thought Tegiri and the Astro were-"

"Of course I am," she says. "Tegiri's training pilots for the Mega-Plas, sure, but after the last time I tagged along on one of those, Dammek insisted I stay home lest I blow the wings off again. So..." Vriska shrugs. "I told everyone I was fishing at O'neill's old place. That's where I was when these two showed up, actually. Sooo. Yeah. Nobody's looking for me."

"Okay, let's hurry this along," Rose says. holding up her right hand with the pink crystal resting against the flesh of her palm. "Before people get suspicious."

"Wait," you say. "Before we do this. How are we arranging for a change back?" 

"I've got that," Roxy says, handing you over a Relto Book, which you quickly Captchalogue. "Rose and I are sharing a 'neighborhood' in D'ni right now as of our most recent visit from this morning. I've left the tab for it open on my bookshelf. When you guys are done, go there, and Rose'll meet you to change you back."

"Got it," you nod. "Change away, then."

Vriska goes first- you watch her skin go from grey to fleshy tone a bit paler than Rose and Roxy's own complexions. Her eyes lose their orange hue, but retain their cerulean hue, and the one weird multi lensed eye seems to fix itself into a normal lense. As for Vriska's horns...  
Well, they meld away and shift into Vriska's ears as they too suddenly meld upwards, becoming animal like... Cat like? Vriska lets out a yelp in the process. With that, Rose is done.

"What the hell? Why'd you up my hearing and smelling?" Vriska asks.

"Because you're explicitly not werewolfized as an Alternian," Rose says. "Cat ears are about as far away from that as far as humans go, too, beyond my own preference."

"Don't make me stand out, and keep my senses the same, please," you say. "Though... I wouldn't mind if-"

"Joey's human color pallet? I can manage that," Rose nods- touching you next, and then you feel all tingly all over your body. "I've also shifted the tattoos to a slightly off pigment for my own remembering later, but they shouldn't be visible to cameras or the naked eye. You're good."

Your head feels lighter without the horns, and paradoxically heavier... Your bangs fall into your eyes- much differently than they were before. The color is a bit more brownish than it was before, besides the length.

"Did you grow my hair out?" You ask.

"I had to put the horn mass somewhere," Rose admits. "Now, before I forget..." She reaches out to Roxy, touches him, and, well... you don't really see a change at first, but then you see how Roxy's shirt shifts as the muscle and skeletal structure beneath changes- plus a subtle changing in the waist as Roxy quickly grips at his pants to keep them from falling down.

"Hoo." Roxy shudders as Rose removes her hand. "That's..." Roxy tightens his belt. "That's... going to take some getting used to."

"If you have any more changes than what we discussed," Rose says, "we can go over it when their mission is done and I can ask Kanaya to borrow Shaper again."

"Got it," Roxy nods.

"Now then," Rose grabs your hands. "The Gate should be opening any moment now..." A few seconds pass, then her cat ears flex- and then she smiles. "Kawoosh."

_**POP-** _

The world blurs and stretches out and then-

_WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO---_

The world blurs, and you're thrown across Atlantis to the Gateroom, and then-

**_SCHLORP!_ **

-THROUGH the Eventhorizon.

You're aware of it in a distinctly unique way.

The Wormhole seems to be almost... standing stock still- if that's a thing you can even be aware of normally. It feels static in that moment as Rose's powers yank you through the wormhole at speed- faster than an intergalactic transit should normally take- and then 

_**SCHLORP!**_ You're passing through the actually closed Iris of the Gate, zipping through the SGC, and then out of the facility- 

_OOOOOSH!!!_ You're blasting through the streets, and then you wind up in the Fraiser house- and-

**_POP!_ **

Then, you stop, you and Vriska are standing next to Missy Fraiser, who looks very (not) amused.

Rose gives a Cheshire smile, and then lets go of you and your partner, then-  _**POP- WOOOSH!**_

She's gone.

"So," Missy says. "I don't approve of this any, but you're going to need a medic if you get hurt. Other than that, I don't want to see you two here during any of this. Got it?"

"Got it, Doc," you nod. 

Then, she hands you two wallets Rose had set up in advance for you- go figure.

* * *

 

Securing a hotel room is done easily enough, but getting used to your reflection being different is... something else.

You need the reminder. Get home to Joey and Mierfa safely. Don't do anything too rash that could get you in trouble.

Lack of horns, changed hair, skin, and eye color aside- Your face looks weird without the flame tattoos lining it, and that's really striking you the most.

"Get over it," Vriska gripes from where she's laying on one of the two beds in the very small room. "I got stuck with Cat Ears! I swear, Lalonde is trolling us something fierce given everything that's going on. Why did I get the super pale skin anyways? And- god- how do you stand having only two eyes all the time!? It's soo... so limiting!!"

"You should have asked first," you say. 

"Feeeh. And what's with the other Lalonde anyways? What was that about the gender thing?" Vriska asks.

"Have you really been that out of the loop?" You ask.

"You try staying in the loop when you're in space 90% of the time?" Vriska counters.

"Blah blah, excuses excuses," you turn to look at her. "You're My Matesprits' Co-pilot and Moirail. I know HE keeps in the loop. It's not that hard for you to do so too."

"Why should I care about all the tiny interlocking personal relations between everyone?" Vriska asks, sitting up. "Going down that road just hurts me most of the time. The last time... Elwurd ruined a lot for me."

"Good things she's dead then," you say.

"Hah, yeah, sure she is," Vriska shakes her head. "I sincerely doubt she didn't find some way to escape. She's too crafty for that."

"She was blown up on a Wraith Cruiser," you point out.

Vriska gives you a scathing look. "Do I LOOK like I care about that, 'Adora'?"

Your alias is a reference to some old ALTERNIAN ANIME about magic princesses that Tegiri had you watch once, years ago. It wasn't bad. Wasn't your favorite thing either. But nobody'll seriously connect 'Adora Glimmer' to 'Polypa Goezee' if you're careful enough.

"Well, fine, 'Catra'" you spit back. 

Seriously. 'Vriska Catra'? Going full Vriska Serket was just begging for a connection back to her real self, but she'd already given her first name before you could stop her. Atleast you managed to spin off the cat ears thing as being 'painfully ironic' given her 'last name.'

Has she never worked a wet-works op before? No, you ask and she admits she hasn't. She's never done anything like this at all. Any murders she committed before fully joining the Rebellion were purely out of self-interested survival. Not for money or for the job or whatever else you did stuff like this for.

Why the hell did Rose choose HER for this?

"Whatever," you shake your head, and get ready for the first stakeout, at a steak place called 'The Steak's Stake." Your target, Albert Monroe, frequents the place on the regular after the closure of IOA business at the SGC. It's a cheap little dugout of a place that nobody would ever expect a fancy man of his caliber and political punching weight class, and that's what makes it perfect for his needs. Rose figured out his habbit pretty quickly given how the Newspapers interested in digging into the IOA ongoings with the SGC could never find the new French Ambassador at any of the same places the rest of the IOA went to.

Monroe thinks he's being clever, huh? Well, there's nothing like the power of a clever, and dogged sleuth with a bone to pick and an assassin to hire, in your experience. Especially one with the supernaturally good sleuthing abilities of the Lalonde family, apparently. Go figure, you just thought Rose was just naturally smart.

But no, it's in her genetics? Whole family line of smart folk? Geeze, talk about spy novel thriller fodder. You could write a novel on this.

You find the place easily enough, get a seat at the bar, eyeing the entrance, and place an order for food while you wait for your target to arrive, pretending instead to be looking at your phone as you wait for food to arrive.

And arrive he does, dressed down from the suit and tie he's been seen in at the SGC, wearing some lazy-ass tshirt and ripped-knee jeans. Even his hair's tussled like crazy compared to the usual swoop of hair gel in all the photos.

You keep an eye on him as he takes a seat at the bar, orders a meal, and similarly begins looking at his phone. 

You can tell he's the nervous sort, using it as a cover just like you are. He's paranoid, and cautious. He's keeping an eye out for anybody who could cause him trouble. 

This Job was already going to be tough, but damn if it didn't just get tougher. 

You're not making a move tonight, that's for sure.

You watch him for the rest of the evening- eating your meal and finishing it just a bit before he does. You pay your meal, and spend the next few minutes finishing off the last of your soda. Your mark calls for the check, and you leave.

You wait outside at the bus stop just outside the bar, within view of the parking lot, and you pretend to be on your phone again.

Albert Monroe leaves the bar soon after, and gets into a beat down looking thing that no ambassador would ever drive. You get a snapshot of it and the license plate as he drives away. 

Step one complete.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: MAY 2ND, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/10/0005.**

You have Vriska staking out the SGC while you check the area around where Albert Monroe is staying at for the car in question. It wouldn't be in the same apartment complex he's renting- it'd be too obvious. Too self-assured. Too Dumb.

The Newspapers and Press would've caught this before you did, if that were the case.

Sure enough, at a parking garage half a block down from that apartment complex, for a completely different building, you find the old rustbucket of a car on Level 2B of the garage. You don't mess with the locks or anything of the sort. 

No.

You locate the first fancy looking car in the lot reasonably close to your Mark's that seems to have gone through a recent patch job on one of the doors- it smells like fresh paint-, and then take out a knife and scrawl into the side of the front passenger door's window "PAY YOUR DEBTS!" 

Then, for good measure, you decaptcha a can of spray paint, casually plop loose the lid and let it 'accidentally' roll under the Mark's car, and trace over the scrawl with red paint. You captcha the can and knife again, and then....

You duck down beneath the Mark's vehicle and plant a tracking bug up under the chassis. It's a literal tracking BUG. The thing skitters up and away from where you placed it deeper into the undercarriage to a place that no-sane person would ever be able to place a tracking bug normally...

Right next to the Gas tank.

You mutter a loud 'shit', pop out from beneath the car, check that the coast is clear, and then scram, without having at all collected the lid for the spray paint.

Nobody saw you, that you're aware of, but you're not going to be so trusting and let a lack of paranoia get you caught by a security camera hidden in the Mark's car. If he recorded any of that, and reviews it later, he'll think it was coincidence. 

You feel a little bit sorry for the guy whose car you just defaced, but he'll get over it. Or she will. Who knows, really. 

You abscond from the garage, hoping that nobody's the wiser.

Step two, complete.

* * *

 

Later that night, Albert Monroe returned to his car to go out for drinks and steaks as per usual... And he stopped upon spotting the defaced car that its owner was currently stressing out over.

"Oh come on! Not again!" the lazy bastard laments, peering at the wrecked door. "Keying the door wasn't enough after last time!? Stupid Loan Sharks... Just HAD to go for the window this time..."

Albert Monroe shook his head, got in his car, and pulled out without so much of a check of anything else.

It wasn't his problem, and he never paid it any more thought.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. It occurred to me that i've grossly underused Polypa's canonical assassin for hire background... Given that it didn't surface until LONG after I'd established certain bits of her character. SOOOO....
> 
> Yeah. Polypa Assassin arc, scattered between the episodes. 
> 
> This oughta be fun!


	14. SG1:10X05/INTERMISSION: Uninvited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crashes, Reunions, and Thefts.

**EARTH DATE: MAY 2ND, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/10/0005.**  
  
In another dimension to our own, Earth sat, slowly recovering from its near death experience at the hands of VENJIX. 

It sat so peacefully unaware, even as a damaged ship burst out of a Hyperspace Window, and began drifting down towards the planet's atmosphere, dragged in by its gravity well.

And what a ship it was, damaged even to the point of unrecognizability. Massive spires, towering, glittering glass structures...

Had anyone been able to see it, even in its damaged state, it would easily be recognized as Lantean in design- a City ship perhaps? But no, too large for that.

In this alternate reality, Atlantis had never been found, after all. But from where had such a massive divergence point that a giant Lantean ship larger than even Atlantis come from?

As the massive thing streaked across the North American continent, it hurtled across the night sky, alarming everyone of Corinth's citizens as they watched it travel, fast, across the continent and then touched down, somewhere just shy of the West Coast- having been stopped entirely by the Rocky Mountain Range.

Needless to say, the Rangers took their Train Zords and some scientists from their Earth, as well as the parallel Earth, and went to investigate the crash site.

* * *

 

**O <\-- [STARGATE: SG-1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw) \-->O**

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: MAY 5TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/13/0005.**

Your name is Jack O'neill, and you groan as you massage at the bridge of your nose yet again for what feels like the millionth time this month.

"Sam. Jolinar." You start, tiredly. "Please tell me this latest burst of information from Corinth City isn't just a prank?"

 _"It's not,"_ Sam answers over the line. _"As far as the data Callie's sending back to us confirms, the crashed spaceship is composed of the same advanced alloy the Asgard used on their last Anti-Replicator class of ships- Naquadah, Trinium, Neutronium- and is definitely Ancient in design. From the wreckage that survived, we think it could have been twice as big as Atlantis, and... Well..."_ She trails off...

And Jolinar takes over, _ **"And the dust cloud moving around on its own, contrary to the wind, is, as far as we can tell, thankfully Not made up of the remains that were pulverized on impact. It seems to be a nano-machine cloud left behind in an abandoned Venjix facility that's been ruptured with this capital ship crashing into it."**_

"We Hope!" you say. "That other dimension does still have a Replicator problem, after all." You'd passed along the information about the Replicator Disurptor tech to the Asgard of that world-line when an opportunity presented itself before Venjix hit, but you never heard about how it panned out. For all you know the bugs relocated to Pegasus in that timeline.

And isn't that a terrifying thought in the wake of learning the Wraith in your world line had anti-beaming jammers based on battles they had with the Asgard!

 _"I doubt it's Replicators,"_ Sam says. _"Callie says the cloud shows no signs of coalescing at the moment into any solid forms, and are just... drifting on the air. Doctor Kae also says that it's showing the same material construction as the Venjix nanomachines, rather than the ship. If it were Replicators, they'd be showing more familiar patterns."_

 _ **"That said,"**_ Jolinar says. _**"We're detecting some strange activity within the facility itself. Given the Venjix Nanomachine dust cloud, we're not going to be able to investigate just yet. We'll keep you appraised of-"**_ And then she stops. **_"Wait. Hold on, Callie's sending us another transmission."_**

"Alright," you say, and then wait. And wait. And wait a bit more.

Then, Sam says, _"Jack, you're not going to believe this, but Artoria just walked out of the wrecked city."_

King Arthur did WHAT now!?

* * *

 

You are now Cassandra Fraiser, and something feels off.

Artoria Pendragon shared much the same story as Hal Strider did. Damara jumped to clone body, and 'banished' them both to different dimensions. It seemed, though, that her phrasing actually meant "two different dimensions, one of which could be this same dimension."

That said, dropping her off in a Pegasus tied to a certain Corinth Dimension was- 

It reeked of intentional deceptions- it reeked of _subterfuge._

Artoria finding herself in an abandoned Ancient City Complex that was in the process of fighting off a Wraith armada made no sense.

There was no Atlantis Expedition to push things to that threshold. But... then again... it's possible that was how the course of things was supposed to go following a lack of Atlantis to wake the Wraith up early. Maybe the Genii's indiscriminate bombing runs woke them up? 

But that failed to explain an Ancient Styled City Ship twice the size of Atlantis.

And just... having it abandoned? Having Artoria use it to fight against the Wraith until she could plot a course back to Milky Way and escape? The long, strained, hyperspace journey to get there?

And then it just so happening to happen now after Atlantis fought off its own chaotic day of... of...

...

...

...

Something didn't fit right in all of this. It feels off. It feels wrong. It feels manipulated. What the hell is Damara's game to pull a stunt like this?

And Damara's existence- her meddling in all of this- meant that you're completely blind to the consequences twice over.

You wish you and your other self could figure this out. Figure out how to solve this puzzle.

Something is rotten in the fish department, and you can't place it at all.

And all of this is before the IOA gets their hands on it and started demanding that this new Atlantis structure be scrapped for Technology and parts. They were running into a lot of resistance from Corinth's side of things, fortunately. There was talk of re-purposing and rebuilding new settlements near and around Corinth using the crashed spaceship's remains once the Venjix nanomachine cloud dispersed.

Shit. Something's going to give but you can't tell what it even is.

Damn it all.

And here you are, out at O'neill's cabin in the woods, on O'neill's orders to 'take a vacation' with only you, Jude, and Mitchel here right now. 

Jonas and Vala? Off in England looking at a private book collection. Rider? Gone off to try and meet up with Artoria in Corinth when she arrives there. 

There's a storm raging outside, Jude and Mitchel are playing chess, and you've got Penny in arm as she gazes at the colorful pictures in a kids book- not even paying attention to the words at all. 

They're pretty pictures, alright. But....

It's a story about King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table- the kid safe version, naturally.

"You know," Mitchel voices suddenly. "I hate down time like this. Especially forced downtime. When there's a job to do. Work's relaxing, you know?"

"You find what we do at the SGC relaxing?" Jude asks.

"Well, yes and no," Mitchel says. "See, I don't like the events? But.... I can't really relax when I'm sitting around with nothing to do. Not when I know the universe is going topsy-turvy and going crazy." He moves a chess piece. "Truth is, I'm way much more at ease off-world, or on a mission, in the thick of it. Gives my mind a lot less to think about because it's focusing on the current situation."

"That's an odd way of thinking about it," you say, "but I guess I'm no different."

"Really?" Jude glances at you. "Why's that, Cassie?"

"I hate not knowing," you say. "Everything Damara's been doing... I hate how it messes with me. How I can't tell what's disaster and what's not. How it all feels... wrong." You pause, look down to Penny, and say, "Honestly, even when we were stuck in that time dilation field, with a massive laser bearing down on us to kill us all... I was... happy? I think. I knew what could kill us with absolute certainty. And after that, with everything that's happened... I got used to knowing what would go wrong and how badly it all could go because it meant I had something to avoid." 

"You feel blind," Mitchel summarizes.

"Yeah," you nod.

And then one of your cellphones ring- Oh. That's not good.

It's Mitchel's phone, and he answers, "Hello?" He pauses. "Yes, Yes Sir, General Landry. I'll let them know. Alright. Thanks for the heads up." He hangs up.

"What's the situation?" You ask, feeling the vibes stirring around, uncertainly.

"The Sodan village was raided by Venjix Grinders," Mitchel says. "They stole their Cloaking Devices."

"The Sodan had cloaking devices?" Jude asks. "I don't remember that ever coming up before. But maybe it did and I forgot..."

"Must've been lost in the shuffle," Mitchel shakes his head. "...Either way. I'm willing to bet we just got our answer as to what happened to Venjix."

"Damara," you swallow your fear of the unknown. The Vibe's refuse to lock into any one certainty. "She's got Venjix, and he's making Grinders, and they just stole an entire Village's worth of Cloaking Devices?"

"Yep," Mitchel nods, grimly. "That's... about the gist of it."

"We need to find Merlin's Weapon," Jude says. "And we need to find it before she does."

* * *

 

You are now Damara Megido, and you smile as Venjix stares, baffled at you.

"You wh.. what!? You want me to disable the radiation the devices emit!?" Venjix asks. "On every single device!? Why!? Don't you know what that could do to me if i get exposed!?"

"Because A: we're going to be running these devices non-stop and I, B: Don't want to be poisoned by radiation," you tell him, "C: We NEED the creatures that are repulsed by the radiation these devices make as a distraction. D: We need these devices for the Mirror-gate. And E:" you lean in close, and smile, "I've already seen you do it. So _Get._ **It.** _**Done.**_ "

Venjix snarls. "You're insane. Fucking Time Travelers! If I had a God I could swear by, I would pray that he strikes you down!" 

"Ah, but fortunately for us both you do not, then," you smirk. "And also... that my God has since been stricken down and cast into a black hole. Which is where I will send you for five brief seconds if you do not agree to do this project for me right now."

Venjix stares- then he hangs his head, and growls out- "Fine!"

You do so love it when a plan comes together.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Yeah. Damara's plan involves cloaking devices that partially shift people into a parallel dimension- with the exact problem of allowing mutagenic monsters to slip through the veil between dimensions into this one. 
> 
> What the fuck is she even after at this point?


	15. SG1:10X06: 200

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "Huh? What? What do you mean we've hit 200 episodes? That seems a bit early, doesn't it?" - Martin Lloyd

**_PREVIOUSLY ON STARGATE:_ **  
  
_"I'm not just interested in outer space, I'm FROM Outer space," Martin Lloyd says to Jack O'neill._

* * *

 

_"Four X-cellent heroes in an X-traordinary new sci-fi series! Starring Nick Marlowe as the wry Colonel Danning…"_

_"As a matter of fact, it DOES say Colonel on my uniform!"_

_"WORM. HOLE. X-TREME!"_

* * *

 

_Hammond shakes his head. "He sold the idea to the studio."_

_Daniel remarks, "Well he obviously got the whole thing from his knowledge of the Stargate Program."_

* * *

 

_On an unnamed planet, O'neill, Daniel, Carter, and Teal'c come through the Gate._

_O'neill raises his gun at noise in the bushes._

_"Come on out!"_

_And then an Ewok steps out from behind cover, and jib-jabs with a subtitle on screen reading "We are the Furlings!"_

* * *

 

_Ha'taks emerge from Hyperspace and begin blasting on the planet._

* * *

 

_"Sam!" Daniel yells._

_"I'm sorry!" Carter yells back, "I thought I could make it work but the thermodynamic loop is-"_

"WAIT."

**EARTH DATE: MAY 7TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 11/15/0005.**

"Wait what?" Martin Lloyd asks.

"No." Jack shakes his head. "Marty. That never happened."  
  
"Well, uh," Martin coughs. "You gotta open big. Catch people's attention! Make them think the whole episode is going to be action packed!"

"Also," you are now Joey Claire, and you peer at the script in front of you. "A "Thermodynamic Loop" is never going to cause an entire planet's core to explode. Believe me, we went through the math to make that happen for Alternia."

"I know! That's where I got the idea!" Marty says. "But the executives thought that 'ripping the core' out of a planet to make it explode was too unbelievable."

"Executives are dumb," Xefros chimes in. "We literally did this. It's in Bregman's Documentary."

"And I pointed that out," Marty says. "They still said 'make it an accident.' Ugh."

"My concern," Samantha Carter starts, "is that it makes my character look dumb. What kind of role are we giving girls to model off of when you open the 200th episode with a blatant murder of my character?"

"Not you, remember," Jonas coughs. "Besides. I don't think Daniel's character was even there for the original parody episode."

"Well, Obviously!" Marty says. "That's the whole point. It's to tip the well seasoned viewers off that it's not a real flashback sequence!"

"I dunno," Mitchel starts. "That seems... fishy to me."

"Hah! _Fishy!_ " Vala laughs. "I got that reference!" She taps at a line on page two. "This parody of the Alternian Empress! On page 10. Nice! Haha..."

"Not... what I was referring to, Vala," Mitchel says, and Vala pouts.

"Ay Yi Yi," Jack groans, putting his head in his hands.

"Look," Marty starts, "I'm not happy with this! The Studio's not happy with this! You're not happy with this! We gotta make sure this 200th Episode for Wormhole X-treme is the BEST there is! Especially since Disclosure happened, our ratings have been zig-zagging like crazy! Reviews from the last season have been plummeting! We need something to reignite the interest in the show otherwise we're gonna get canceled!"

"Um, can I just say," Vala starts. "I'm noticing I'm not anywhere in this! And neither is New Guy either!"

"That's because we haven't gotten to adapting your adventures yet," Marty says, waving it off.  Then his cellphone rings and he gets up to answer it in the General's office. "Go For Marty!"

"You know," Sam starts, "the really unbelievable part is that anyone would consider spending millions of dollars on this. I mean, seriously, all these writers, and they couldn't come up with anything better?"

"Indeed," Teal'c rumbles.

"No! I'm not reusing any shots from the series!" Martin yells from the office. _"It's a TWO HUNDREDTH EPISODE! **NOT A CLIP SHOW!**_ You can tell them that the Budget is the Budget! If they want to cut it in half for some half-assed spinoff, then tell them I'll shop the series around to another studio!" A pause. "Ah... you know not to say that last part, right? ... yeah, "200th Episode, not Clip Show." That's good. Okay, I've got to go."

And then he exits the office again.

"Sooooryy about that," he takes his seat again. "Where were we?"

"Opening sequence," you say.

"Right, thanks, Claire," he says. "Opening Sequences! What do we have for ideas?"

"We need a strong theme to open everything up with," Mitchel starts. "It's nostalgia pandering, right? Celebrating 200 episodes? Just do a new theatrical remix of the theme song."

"Or rock!" you say.

"Yeah," Xefros nods. "A good rock remix of the main theme is a great tone changer."

"Pft," Marty scoffs. "Are you serious? Nobody does that anymore. You just throw up the title card and that's it."

* * *

 

[ **_STARGATE: SG-1_ ** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYYTJgrLB_A)

* * *

 

You are now Cameron Mitchel, running hurriedly down the hallways of the SGC,  Alarms are blaring, sirens are yelling- the Zombies are growling. The Telchak device in your sylladex glows.  
  
"Walter!" You get to the gate room, sealing the door shut behind you. "Dial 447! The only way to stop this is to get the device back to the planet!"

The Gate starts Dialing- and then Walter gets attacked by --

_"Zombies? Seriously?"_

You look at Martin, and frown. "What's wrong with Zombies? It's Happened!"

"Yeah, but zombies have been done to death. Punned to death, even. Every single thing... besides, this is Science Fiction, not horror," Marty says.

"But it's happened! The Telchak device is-"

Marty's phone rings again- the Wormhole X-treme theme playing loud and proud. He exits the room- "Go For Marty! Hey, Charlie, what's up...?"

"So, uh," Joey coughs. "Just out of curiosity, what's the rest of your team doing while you're fighting to destroy the Zombie making device?"

"Ah, well-"

You're saved by Marty returning with a yell of, "Son of a Bitch!"

"What's wrong?" You ask.

"My Lead just sprained his kneed, twisting it badly!" Marty says. "He's backing out for the 200th Episode so we have to write around his absence!"

O'neill winces. "Yeeeah. That sucks."

"Hire a replacement actor for the episode?" Jonas offers.

"Or!" O'neill chimes in, "Have him be on vacation, healing from having hurt his knee! Real Life Writes the Plot!"

"Yeah, but we already had our female lead absent for the first quarter of last season due to maternity leave," Marty says. "And we wrote that into the plot too. The fans would just call us lazy for repeating it again."

"What about that time that Jack got turned invisible?" Carter offers.

"I'd really rather not think about that," O'neill says. "It wasn't fun at all." He smirks in that way that says he's got mixed feelings on the matter.

"Sure, but, you could just green screen a stunt double for most of the episode and just have him do voice over work for the scenes he's in," Carter says.

"Just have him be off world managing another mission," Joey says. "Or, have him be stuck in a Disclosure meeting or something."

"Would neatly sidestep that 'clip show' thing," Xefros agrees.

"Indeed," Teal'c nods. "If that is something you wish to avoid, it would be a reasonable plot."

"Honestly," Jonas says, "why don't you just trap him on another planet on a mission gone wrong that left the Gate buried? Maybe a meteor shower gone wrong?"

Carter and O'neill both groan at that grim reminder of past events.

"I'll take that as a no, then," Marty grumbles. "And honestly those all sound like cheats to me, or rehashes of earlier plots."

* * *

 

You are now Cassandra Fraiser, and General Landry enters the briefing room, "SG-1, you're cleared for your mission."

"Thank you!" Mitchel gets up and absconds from the room.

"We'll be back as soon as we can," Cassandra says, heading down to the Gate Room.

"What? Now!?" Marty asks. "But I need your help!"

"We'll be back," Jonas says.

"Yeah, not like it's the end of the world or anything," Jude rolls his eyes.

"Or it could be," you add mysteriously.

You zip out of the room as fast as you can and Captchalogue-quick-change into your mission uniforms as you zip into the Gate Room.

"This is it," Mitchel says. "My 200th trip through the Gate!"

"Really?" You ask. "200 huh? Isn't it just a Recon Mission?"

"Sure," he says. "But that's 200 trips through the gate either way!"

"I don't buy it," Vala says as you arrive. "No way it's been 200 missions."

"Not mission, trips. Offworld gates, back and forht, any time I crossed the event horizon," Mitchel grins. "You know. The Big Two Oh Oh!"

The Gate starts dialing up... only to power down.

"...Fucking hell," you sigh, the vibes launching into high orbit. "This isn't good."

"It's not?" Jude asks, and then the Stargate starts sparking like mad. "Oh. Yeah. it's not."

* * *

 

 _ **"And then Cheyenne Mountain Explodes!"**_ Cassie concludes with a grin, throwing her hands far out to either side of her, nearly smacking Vala in the face. "Cut to commercial!"

"What?" Martin asks, blinkling. "I don't follow. You're basically saying we kill off the entire cast in one fell swoop?"

"No!' Cassie shakes her head. "I'm saying we play it off as a fake out! When we come back to commercial everyone's alive and well, having been beamed out at the last moment to the Daedalus or Odyssey or Astro-Delta whatever you call your ship in Wormhole X-treme!"

"Now that's a fake out," You are now Xefros Tritoh, and you grin. "I like it! But..." You lean in closer to the table. "I've got one better:

_"The Scene! A heavily forested planet!_

_"The Team: SG-1, composing of Jude, Cassie, Mitchel, and Jonas, running away from a horde of Replicators, each armed with time loop induced copies of Jonas's Anti-Replicator Gun!_

_""We've got to hurry!" Jude yells. "We've got ten seconds before the time dilation field activates and if we don't make it through the gate we'll be stuck forever!"_

_"They come to a stop atop the cliff overlooking the Gate Valley, within which there's a massive fleet of Mofang Ships parking there, guarding the Gate._

_""This could be a problem," Cassandra remarks, and then-_

_"Boom! They exit the Gate on Earth, exhausted, but alive! "Well that was close!" MItchel says as-"_

"Are you serious, Xefros?" Joey asks, interrupting.

"What?" You ask.

"First off, how the heck did they escape?" Joey starts. "Second, even if the valley wasn't filled with Mofang, they'd never have made it to the Gate and Dialed out in what was already ten seconds that had passed."

"Okay, see, this is why we're here," Martin says. "Let's say... thirty seconds? No, thirty eight!"

"What difference does it make?" You ask. "The whole point is to have the dramatic tension suddenly cut out from under them! It's not like we add a ticking clock on screen or anything!"

"AH!" Marty grins. "That's brilliant!" He starts scribbling down a note- mumbling, "Add, Ticking, Clock, To, Action, Sequences. For. The! LOLS!"

"The _Lawls_?" O'neill asks.

"No, the LOLs," Teal'c corrects. "An Internet acronym for 'Laughing Out Loud.'"

"And how do you know THAT?" O'neill asks.

"I have spent may days on the internet during my down time here on Earth so as to better learn of your customs and culture," Teal'c says, raising an impressively high eyebrow.

"Plus, Ticking Clocks are box-office gold," Cassie chimes in. "Did you know? They added a teleportation countdown timer in this seasons Power Rangers? For the time until the Monsters grow."

"Yeah, just ask any of my executives," Marty says.

"I do have to say," Vala chimes in, "I think we've replaced 'jeopardy' with 'certain death' in this case."

"Mmh!" Joey nods.

"Come on," Martin scoffs. "You've LITERALLY escaped the time dilation field caused by the gravitational pull of a Sun about to go Super Nova with literal seconds to spare, Joey! That's no less more plausible."

"....Damn it. Why did I have to be so bad-ass for?" Joey laments in a huff.

"...He does have a point," Jonas says. "We've escaped worse situations than that."

"So we show the actual escape then," Carter suggests. "Make it a fancy slow-motion sequence as everyone dodges and weaves through enemy fire, make it to the gate as the Time Dilation device activates, and THEN, after leaving it in suspense as to whether or not they dialed, cut back to Earth."

"Oh, no!" Marty shakes his head. "We can't give away too much! We gotta spread it out peace-meal! Have little sections of the escape foreshadow future events as they're playing out!"

"Maybe not have my character say 'this is a problem' then?" Cassie offers. "Or, well, whoever I was supposed to be in Xefros' scenario there. Have them say, 'This should be easy' instead."

Marty's phone rings again, then, and he glances at his watch. "Maybe we should take five while I take this." And then he absconds. "Go For Marty!"

* * *

 

Your name is Joey Claire, _Extraordinaire_ , and you feel like an extra alright. Why are you even in this plot again?

Oh, right. You wanted to pitch something to Marty and accepted to consult on the script.

"Hey, Mister Lloyd?" You start, approaching him as he hangs up from another call.

"Yeah?" He asks, tiredly.

"I've got a story idea," you smile. "I'm not much of a creative fiction writer, but maybe you can find a way to work it in?"

"Sure," he says. "Go ahead."

And so you start the story.

* * *

 

_The Streets of San Fransisco, California, were bustling with the average chaos of a given night. Traffic zipping this way and that at relativistic speeds that would seem fast to them, but slow to most people anywhere else. It was nowhere near as chaotic as the mess that was Los Angeles traffic, which constantly stood at a standstill even on the best of days._

_And then there were were those who went beyond those relativistic speeds going a thousand times faster, but really it was more about the speed of your average, non traffic jammed freeway... except down in the streets of a decidedly non freeway section of town._

_Cars beeped their horns at the rapidly moving grey and orange striped car dodged through traffic- and then they were beeping again at the trio of large, black, unlicensed SUVs chasing after that smaller car. The TRUST were on the chase._

_Men in masks leaned out of the passenger side windows, firing guns blindly into the street ahead, trying to land a hit on the zippy grey car, dodging and weaving through traffic. Stray bullets bounced off of other people's cars or shattered windows._

_Needless to say, the Trust goons behind these shots being fired wanted only one thing and one thing only- and it was the cat carrier in the passenger seat of the grey vehicle._

_"Xefros!" I yell from the back seat, taking aim with a Jaffa Staff out the window. "Hold it steady so I can get a shot off!"_

_"Got it!" My Moirail and driver of this absurdly fast vehicle agrees, trying to hold it steady._

_I lined up my staff at the front most of the pursuing vehicles, and let loose a devastating fire blast._

_**PCHOOO!!!** _

_Xefros had to swerve at the last moment, though, somehow avoiding our tires being hit by bullets- or from crashing into some other vehicle going the other direction, and thus, I missed. Barely._

_The explosion of energy hit the ground just infront of the pursuing van, and threw up a shower of asphalt into the windshield- they skidded to a halt in a turn, blocking some of the traffic behind them._

_The other two Trust vans just flanked and went around._

_"That's one! Sort of!" I told him._

_"Great! Now how about we deal with the other two before the rest of the Trust show up!" Xefros yells, swerving us around some more honking vehicles._

_"WATCH IT!" A driver yelled at us._

_"YOU WATCH IT!" I yelled back at them. Petty? Sure. But I wasn't in a charitable mood at the moment._

_I returned my staff to my Sylladex, and withdrew a Zat Gun._

_I took aim, and fired off two shots- one hit the front windshield of the first Trust Van, the other hit the front passenger side tire._

_That shot reflected, and shot overhead, striking the street lights as we passed underneath, scrambling the whole system, and forcing a reset._

_The two Trust Vans swerved to a halt as traffic crossed through the street behind us, blocking their path._

_"Haha! Got them!" I cheered._

_"Great!" Xefros then flicked a switch and caused the entire car's color scheme to-_

* * *

 

"Ah, that's a bit more Car-Fu than we have in the budget for," Marty cuts you off. "But! Send me a proof of concept script for what you've got, and I'll see about making it happen as its own thing!"

"Okay," you nod. "But... don't you want to know why the Trust would want a Cat?"

"I think I'll pass," Marty says. "For now."

"Okay," you nod in agreement, and turn to leave.

* * *

 

You're now Vala Mal Doran, and you approach Martin Lloyd before he can re-enter the conference room.

"Hey! So! You're an alien too, right? Not from Earth? Like me?" You ask.

"Uh... Sure," Martin nods.

"So! I have all SORTS of fabulous adventures, none of which ever have passed through the SGC grape vine or the Air Force's classifieds. So! Want to hear one?"

"Sure," He nods, tiredly. "Give me you best one."

"Okay, right, so I was in a stolen Cargo Ship on my way home when a solar flare wreaked havoc on my system and I was forced to crash land on the nearest planet. In a Bizarre Twist of fate, I crashed right ontop of the local Goa'uld who ruled that planet. Which was REALLY Fortunate because my ship was too badly damaged to repair and I needed help! So the Local villagers were really grateful and-"

"Look, I don't have all day," Martin says. "Cut to the chase?"

"Alright," you say. "Long story short I met up with a number of friends along the way and after a dangerous and eventful journey, we finally come face to face with an Ascended being who-"

"Describe them?" Martin asks.

"...Um, A Scarecrow, a Lion, and a tin-man?"

"...That's the Wizard of Oz."

"Oh, so you've seen that one."

"I have." Martin raises his phone to his ear. "I have to take this. Go For Marty."

"I didn't hear it ring."

"It's on vibrate. I Said, Go For Marty."

You're just gonna leave now.

* * *

 

 _'Um. Scene 24?'_ You are Samantha Carter, and you grimace. _'Isn't this Star Trek?'_  
  
_[I Believe it is.]_ Jolinar agrees. _[Also. 'The Singularity is about to explode'? Everything about that statement is wrong.]_

_'And setting weapons to maximum isn't going to help either.'_

_[This is pretty much just blatant plagiarism, too. I think I saw this episode on TV the other night.]_

_'...We should probably just tell Marty to scrap the whole scene?'_

_[Agreed.]_ Jolinar pauses. _[Also. Why has everything we've discussed today basically ended up exploding?]_

"Okay, so," Marty returns, finally, looking dejected. "Since Nick Marlowe pulled out because of his knee, some hotshot 'junior executive' at the network has suggested we just recast everyone to be 'younger, edgier, and sexier versions' of the team for the entire episode." He shakes his head. "Can you imagine how much money that's going to cost for a single episode??"

From her seat, Joey stares off into the distance, her cheeks lighting up with a fierce blush. "I... I can imagine a whole lot of things that you could do with a 'younger, edgier' cast."

"Haha," Xefros laughs.

Jude just looks embarrassed for his sister.

"Oh!" Vala says. "I've got this!"

And then she relates an extremely uncomfortable snip of an idea that sounds like it was ripped off of a teen drama.

"No," you say.

"Absolutely not," Cassandra shakes her head.

"Nope," Jude vehemently agrees.

"Aren't we already younger and edgier as it is with Rider joining?" Mitchel muses.

"I know I've got the sexier bit covered!" Vala grins.

"I'm... going to go get a latte," Martin gets up.

Vala chases after him, and you can't help but feel like this is a train wreck worth watching, so you go get coffee too.

"Okay! How about this one! We were in a cloaked cargo ship on a simple three hour recon-"

_"Gilligan's Island."_

"How'd you get that from just 'three hour'!?"

"Piece of advice, if you're going to rip something off, make sure it's obscure," Martin says.

"Okay."

And then Vala tells a story of an organic spaceship rocking violently in a tussle against an unknown enemy.

Mitchel, playing the role of someone named 'Stark' shoves aside an Asgard named 'Rygel' who was wearing ornate robes and having bushy eyebrows and a mustache.  
Vala's character, apparently, stands next to where Jonas' character is.

And then things go so wrong, that it leads to everyone swearing in creative swears.

You'll agree with Marty. You've never heard that one before.

Then, Marty's phone rings again- a different tone, a text, it seems.

"Oh COME ON!" Marty groans. "Today just sucks!"

"What happened?" You ask.

"The Foreign Distributor just went bankrupt!" Marty laments. "There goes half of Europe and China! AND Half my budget!" He hangs his head. "So much for the end of Act Three."

"What happens in the end of Act 3?" You ask.

"With these cuts, not much!" Marty says. "Act Three Just ENDS!"

* * *

 

"Hey, here's a crazy idea."

You are Jack O'neill, and you look up, squinting at disbelief at Mitchel. "What."

"Why don't we just give Marty some of our mission reports to riff off of?" Mitchel asks.

"We've already let them riff off of our reports," you say. "That's the whole reason Joe's working on the show as a writer."

"...All 1,263 reports from SG-1?" Mitchel asks.

"It's 1,264," you correct, even as Sam returns to the room.

"No, it's Sixty-three," Mitchel corrects. "I've read all of the files as of yesterday. I wanted to be prepared for this."

"Actually, you haven't read report 30185," Sam says.

"What's in 30185?" Mitchel asks.

"1969," Teal'c informs him.

"The... Time Travel trip?" Mitchel asks. "What's so special about that? And why haven't I read it?"

"We can't tell you," you say.

"And why not?" Mitchel asks.

"It's classified," you brush it off.

"I have one of the highest security clearances known to mankind, what the hell is 30185?" Mitchel asks. "What happened in 1969 you're not telling me?"

"Well, if you can't tell him," Vala begins. "Can you tell me?"

"Oh, sure," you nod. "But not with Mitchel in the room."

"Seriously?" Mitchel groans. "Come on. 1969 was before I was even born! What does it have to do with me?"

"Nine months, to be almost exact," Sam says, chuckling.

"What?" Mitchel asks.

"Leave the room please," you say. "It's not my story to tell."

"Fine." Mitchel gets up, leaves, and with a nod from Cassie that he's out of hearing range.

You tell Vala.

And she laughs.

Then she calls Mitchel back in and says, "Oh, sorry, Farm-boy, but this is too good to not keep quiet. I'm going to enjoy the reveal when it happens."

"What the hell?" Mitchel frowns. "You're not saying that someone on SG-1 knocked up my Mom or something?"

"Oh, no, nothing like that at all!" Vala grins. "It's something much more embarrassing!"

"I seriously have no idea what the hell you're all going on about, but fine," Mitchel crosses his arms and sits back down. "Keep your secrets."

And then Marty storms in, "I can't believe it! Now the whole cast's heard Marlowe's out with a busted knee and they're all suggesting we just put off doing 200 entirely until he's recovered! THIS IS A DISASTER!" He slumps into his chair, head in his arms, and muttering, "How can I do an episode without any actors?"

There's silence for a moment...

Then, you open your big dumb mouth.

"Parallel universes are a thing, we know that. So..." You cough. "What about An Animated Universe?"

"...You're not seriously suggesting..." Joey starts... "Cartoon Style?"

"Oh, yeah," you nod.

* * *

 

 **_[OooOOOooOOOOoooOOOoo...](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qIUcZifFLQE) _ **  
  
_**PCH-ZYU!!!** _  
  
_"Built by Ancients So Long Ago!_

_"The Stargate lay til we Broke the Code!_

_"Now it takes through the Universe!_

_"On our Mission to Get Back to Earth!"_

_**OooOOOooOOOOoooOOOoo...** _

_"We are Hunted and On The Run!_

_"And Together we Overcome!_

_"Fighting Evil Through the Galaxy!"_

_**KAWOOOSH!** _

_"STARGATE INFINITY!!!!"_

* * *

 

"....That's..." Sam blinks.

"Well, it's ambitious, to say the least," Joey says.

"...The Studio might even go for that." Marty nods. "Set it 38... eh, 40 years in the future after the Goa'uld are all wiped out. Yeah. That could work! Tell me more, Jack!"

So you do.

You tell him everything you can absolutely tell about this crazy little idea inside your head.

"And you know what!" Marty says after he finishes writing it all down. "I think I just found a solution to my halved budget from earlier! The studio wants a spin off? I'LL GIVE THEM A SPIN OFF!"

* * *

 

_"[When it comes to fighting crime,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mt7y9IOfbyU) there's only one man keepin' the Streets safe..."_

_A frosted glass door, marked "TEAL'C, PRIVATE INVESTIGATIONS" and the Apophis brand above it._

_"...While keepin' it real."_

_A Man gets thrown through it, and then P.I. Teal'c leans through the frame, adjusts the brim of his Fedora, and practically purrs, "In-Deed."_

_"TEAL'C P.I. Coming this Fall."_

* * *

 

You are now Teal'c, and you smile and nod as Martin Lloyd enthusiastically says, "*I* Love it!" he pauses. "I'm just not sure if the network..."

You frown, and lean in close.

"But I'll pitch it to them next week, and-and-and we'll see what they think?" Martin's phone then rings. "I gotta take this! GO FOR MARTY!"

And he Absconds.

"Teal'c P.I.?" O'neill asks, leaning against the wall where Marty once was similarly landing. You both peer out at the Stargate. "I know I'd watch it."

"Thank you, O'neill," you say.

"Though, I gotta say," O'neill says. "I didn't figure you for the Private Investigator Type."

"I borrowed several novels from Okurii Leijon also during my time on Alternia," you tell your friend. "In addition to cooking, I found the genre of Alternian Crime Thrillers to be thoroughly engaging and thought provoking."

"Lovely, that," O'neill says. "Got any you'd recommend?"

"Several, but we would be here all week if I were to recite every title," you tell him. "I will simply procure copies and mail them to you at the earliest convenience."

"Ah, so it falls under movie title logic, huh?" O'neill asks. "Gotcha."

Martin Lloyd returns- complaining- "Stupid Focus Groups! They LOVE the animated idea, but they hate the ending! I have to think of something else after the climax!"

"They could go fishing!" O'neill offers.

"Fishing?" Martin asks.

"Yeah, it'd be the perfect ending." O'neill nods. "After that, anything else would seem pointless! Show 'em relaxing and goofing off after saving the day, or whatever!"

"Hmm," Martin nods. "Possible... But... what's the twist? No fish? I need something emotionally moving, though."

"Everyone loves a wedding," Samantha speaks up.

"A wedding!" O'neill claps his hands. "Yes! Have it be a huge surprise out of nowhere! Main male lead comes up to the main female lead," he swoops across the room, hovering near Samantha. "And he sweeps her off her feet-" ironically, O'neill pulls her to her feet. "And then... He leans in close and asks..." He leans in very close, near to the point of kissing, and then nearly whispers. "Will you Marry Me?"

"Are you serious, Jack?" Samantha asks.

"Maybe," he answers. "What gets you to say yes?"

Then, she kisses him, and there's silence in the room for a few moments as O'neill kisses her back and they just sort of stand there, lip locked...

Then Martin claps enthusiastically. "Yes! Something exactly like that! I hope you don't mind but I'm going to rip that off word for word!" He starts writing down the lines, mumbling everything O'neill and Samantha just said. "Hahah! Yes! This is great! Not torture with an extended wedding scene but the proposal! YES! Perfect!"

Everyone just sort of stares in silence as he rapidly packs up everything and then- with a big grin on his face, Martin says: "Thanks for everything guys! I think this is going to be the best 200th episode ever! I've got to get this to the studio."

And then he absconds for the door- pausing only to say- "Oh! And Congratulations on the Engagement! I expect an Invite in the mail as soon as you've figured out a date!!"

"...Well," Mitchel coughs. "That just happened."

"Indeed it did, Cameron Mitchel," you say.

Indeed it did.

O'neill and Samantha still seem to be unaware of anything else but each other.

"I think we should probably, uh, give them the room?" Jonas suggests.

"Yeah, that's an idea," Vala nods in agreement.

"Let's go to the cafeteria," Xefros says. "I hear they've got cake today."

And so you all head to the cafeteria, sans the recently engaged couple, sparing the Stargate one final glance for the next few hours.

Today has been a very strange day, and to think it all started with a giant, ring shaped object.

* * *

 

_"Science fiction is an existential metaphor. It allows us to tell stories about the human condition. Isaac Asimov once said: 'Individual science fiction stories may seem as trivial as ever to the blinder critics and philosophers of today, but the core of science fiction, its essence, has become crucial to our salvation, if we are to be saved at all.'"_

Anders ("Grell") WORMHOLE X-TREME 200TH EPISODE INTERVIEW.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes. Stargate Infinity is a real thing. 
> 
> 200 was a fun episode to cover! I really enjoyed writing this one out. Did I lift a bunch of things from the actual episode? Sure. But I couldn't really improve on anything in those cases. But I also had fun adapting them through the sheer fact of *narrative* alone. I played a LOT with the various ways to tell a story in this one, as far as the text based medium goes.
> 
> It's a fun way of experimenting, episodes like these.
> 
> Got two Reader Questions for ya:  
> Stargate Fans: Have you ever heard of Stargate Infinity before now?  
> Otherwise: Would you watch Teal'c P.I. as a real show?


	16. SGA:03X03: Irresistible

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AR-2 runs into a rather charming fellow with very bad breath.

**EARTH DATE: MAY 6TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/14/0005.**  
  
"Huh," you are now Keiko Ayano, and you are very surprised.

"Huh, what?" Mallek asks.

"I think I just found another reason why we can't power on the ZPM factory, even with 3 ZPMs, and even with us having overwritten most of the anti-Wraith security protocols."

"Why's that?" Mallek asks, rolling over from his desk terminal on his four wheeled office chair.

"I just found that there's Star Matter Collection Drives on the bottom of the city, like what was on the Destiny to power its power reserves, Except, they don't funnel into anything that seems to be related to main power at all. Completely vestigial, and unnecessary, unless you consider the idea that they're connected to the ZPM factory," you explain. "See, Aincrad's ZPM factory always struck me as weird because it's believed to be solar powered. I'd thought, 'how does that much distant radiation actually power a ZPM?' But..." you tap at the screen infront of you. "What if it's actually receiving power from a *transmitter* that's within the sun's upper most layers and absorbing that power to make the ZPM itself?"

"Well, that's incredibly fascinating," Mallek says. "And given Aincrad's advancements compared to Atlantis... yeah, I could see that, over time, the idea of pointing a dish at the sun and receiving energy transmitted from a device in a star could be misconceived as receiving power directly from the star itself."

"But it's pretty much useless to us now," you say.

"Because it doesn't help us with the current issue we have of getting the engines working again," Mallek nods. "We'd have to take off to be able to absorb that stellar matter within a star, inorder to make ZPMs."

"Which means that as fascinating as this is, we gotta get back to work," you nod, and dismiss that screen, and in return, you bring up a list of Gate Addresses containing planets thought to be uninhabited. "Stardrive research break over... Now to the oh so boring task of trying to figure out if we should just steal Stargates from Pegasus, or have Alternia produce us some of their own..."

* * *

 

[ **O < \--- STARGATE: ATLANTIS --- >O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0)

* * *

 

 **EARTH DATE: MAY 7TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/15/0005.**  
  
It was quite obvious something was up by the smell alone, atleast, that's how you see it. And you are Daraya Jonjet, Alternian Troll with a recently upgraded wolf-tier sniffing system thanks to magic particles. Landing the Jumper outside the village, you can just... smell this thing in the air.

You had to point it out first, but Mallek and Tyzias noticed it too- Keiko seemed to be completely unaware of it though. Whatever it was, humans, even werewolf-humans, seemed to be unable to percieve it.

Still, this planet had a Stargate, and it had people on it. Mckay was trying to find planets with Stargates that could be stealable for a GATEBRIDGE project he and Morgan Carter were working on in their spare time- bumped to a higher priority after the SGC's bookroom robbery by Ba'al. But nobody wanted to strand an entire planet's people by stealing their stargate... so... this planet was off the list for theft, but maybe not for trade.

If you could put up with the smell, at any rate.

You enter the village, and the scent becomes somewhat more overwhelming. It's practically radiating off of the people meandering about.

"Fair day to you!" a young woman greets.

"Fair day," Tyzias chimes back, sounding like she, too, is noticing the smell.

"You're seriously not smelling that, Keiko?" Mallek asks.

"No," she frowns. "Which is weird. You guys are smelling it so it has to be something."

And then a man with a wide grin comes bumbling along- and the scent is practically overwhelming, coming from his very body. "Hello! Hello, new people! Why didn't anybody tell me that new people were here!?"

"Lucius! I've missed you!" A woman rushes over to hug him. 

"Oh, well, I was just out for a walk," the man, Lucius says, "Have you met the new people yet?"

"We just got here," Mallek says, smiling despite the smell. Good grief how can Keiko not smell this shit?

"Oh, that's great! Just great! Then I haven't missed anything! I hate missing things! Have you met my wife, Willa? Isn't she gorgeous?" And then the man, Lucius points to a group of other beautiful women who- "My other wives are just making lunch! Come! Join us!"

As his wives all chime in with "Fair day"s for days, you glance at your team. "This is weird, right?"

"Smell aside, yes," Tyzias agrees.

"I've got a bad feeling about this," Keiko says, as Lucius turns his attention back to you all, his eyes fixing down on Keiko.

"So, uh! Hi! I don't think I got your names yet? Man, you're all really something else, huh? That mystical transformation wave thing really did a number in on you all!" 'Lucius' grins.

"Something like that," Tyzias takes the lead. "I'm Tyzias Entykk, this is Mallek Adalov, Daraya Jonjet, Keiko Ayano."

"Wow! Nice nice, and where are you all from?" Lucius asks.

"Oh, you know," Mallek coughs. "Just a little place called Diaspora. You've probably never heard of it."

"No, no, I don't think I have!" Lucius's breath wafts over as he laughs in that sort of 'what can you do' way and- URGH. That smell is even worse. What the fuck is wrong with this place? "Sounds nice though, is it nice?"

"It can be," you say. "But we really only just dropped by to see if this village was still inhabited or not. We really oughta be go-"

He cuts you off. "NONSENSE! Come come! Let's all sit down and have lunch and talk! Maybe have some wine?"

"Sorry, but I don't think we caught your name?" Tyzias starts- and everyone from the village laughs.

"Uh, kinda serious on that?" Keiko says, backing away from Lucius even as he sort of steps closer. "Who are you?"

The village goes silent.

A woman speaks, "You've truely not heard of Lucius?"

And then the women go on a triade of him being the 'wisest and kindest man among the stars' to which this Lucius guy seems so VERY HUMBLE in return (He's not. At all.)

And despite your best efforts to negotiate... he insists you four stay for lunch.

...You have a seriously bad feeling about all of this.

* * *

 

You are Tyzias Entykk, and you hold back the frown as you watch everyone from the village fawn over this guy. What the hell is even going on?

Also, the passes he keeps trying to make on you, Daraya, and Keiko are all... very repulsive, even after being told that yes, you're all spoken for- and it didn't hurt that you added in the lie of "in all quadrants" just to be on the safe side.

The Concept of Quadrant Serendipity has avoided you all, but what this guy doesn't know won't hurt him.

Lucius Lavin, as his full name turns out to be, loves to brag. He has "Gifts" relating to, and you quote, "Exploration. Alchemy. Medicine. I have, I have to say, some of the best ointments around."

And then when the subject of the Puddle Jumper comes up, he seems utterly confounded by the idea that no, he can't have yours, or any others you might have.

A Trade is proposed for his 'wonderful medicines' but...

Good grief, this whole place is making you uncomfortable. The longer you sit with this smell the more something NAGS at you that it's familiar. Somehow. Like you've encountered this before.

No, that should be impossible, right? Two completely different Galaxies, shouldn't have similar plant life, right?

...But then again, giant lizards and 'dinosaurs' seem to be a commonality, so why not plants?

Mallek finally manages to make up an excuse requiring you all to get back before you're late for "a very important business date."

Lucius is completely opposed to the idea of you leaving. He wants you to stay, to have the second course of food. To have his medicines and ointments.

The villagers start to block your path as you try to leave.

"W-w-wait!" Lucius starts- "It's okay! They can go! We're all friends here, right?"

You lie out your teeth:

"Tell you what, when we get back, we'll tell our medical team what you have, they can come see what you have, see if we can use it. Then we'll talk abou trade."

"Later today, maybe?" Oh good grief, the way his face lights up it's like you gave him christmas presents a half a year early.

"Maybe," you say.

He promises he'll have everything ready, and lets you leave.

You all abscond back to the Jumper and fly back for the Gate.

"Did anyone else get Serious Regent vibes off of that guy?" Mallek asks. "Or was it just me?"

"Definitely," you nod. "That was creepily mind control like. Almost like a Master power from the 'In which I got shoved in a locker and got super powers' franchise."

"What's that title from?" Keiko asks. "Book or movie?"

"Book series," you say. "It's alright, I guess. Spawned a whole lot of alternate-universe fanfic and rewrites online about a decade back, or so. Bit of a similarity to how some people were getting powers from the Bracelet Crystals. Huh, I wonder if there's a time loop in there somewhere?"

You shake your head after getting lost in thought for a moment.

"It doesn't matter," you continue. "Point is, that was definitely very wrong. I think that Lucius guy was the one the smell was coming from?"

Daraya nods. "Definitely. Got a good whif of his breath. It reeked of the stuff. Made me wanna gag."

"So.... Steal their Gate and be done with it?" Mallek asks.

"Let's settle for black listing the gate address and calling it a day," Daraya says.

"We should have Kanaya look at them with Shaper," Keiko says. "If humans can't smell it, we might be vulnerable to whatever controlling power thing he has. If Alternian's can smell it, then maybe they're immune?"

* * *

 

You are Kanaya Maryam, and your magic genetic alterning crystal easily picks up on the deception by way of checking AR-2 on their return before you even step foot off world.

This man, Lucius Lavin, is secreting a pheremone chemical that's making the people around him addicted to his very presence. Shaper's database of chemicals tells you it's due to a plant matter that he's consuming- one very similar to an Alternian Spore Plant- a varriation of which there had been a brief altercation with on the All Your Base during the evacuation and relocation of Alternia's plantlife to Diaspora. 

Needless to say that specific plant has a very different affect on Alternian Trolls than it does on Pegasus Humans- namely, a rapid inflamation of the sex drive versus blatant addiction.

Flushing it out of an Alternian body is as simple as filling a bucket. In Humans, there's a little more at risk in the Alternian version of the plant... but similarly easy to get rid of. However, the Pegasus variation is a bit more drastic.

You can already see the waning levels of production within Lucius' body, and the aftershocks its starting to cause in his followers.

They'll go into horrible withdrawal within a matter of days if you don't do something.

You confront Lucius.

"Okay okay!" He admits with very little fuss once you call him out on it. "There's a plant on a world the Wraith took over! I can't harvest it anymore! I didn't mean to cause them any trouble!" He tries to excuse himself and play himself off as a victim...

You just ask if he has any of the plant matter left, and fortunately, he does.

From there, you take it back to Atlantis, and work as quickly as you can with Doctor Fraiser and Doctor Beckett to create an antidote for it.

Then, you deliver it to the village under the guise of 'trade' and the gullible people don't even protest, because they're more concerned over the fact that Lucius absconded through the stargate in between the time you left and returned.

Once they come to, and realize what had happened, they ban the man from ever stepping foot in the village again, which he probably saw coming, hence why he fled. 

If you ever see him again, it will be too soon.

* * *

 

A few hours of searching Lucius's belongings later, a Gate Address was discovered in a journal, and a cloaked Jumper went through to investigate the planet.

Sure enough, they found a large field of a wild corn-like substance.

...A bomb was dropped on it, and the Jumper fled before it detonated. The Wraith would later investigate, and wonder why the hell someone would blow up a field of plants, but decided that it probably wasn't an attack on them given that nothing else happened immediately after.

A few days later, at the IOA's order, the Daedalus would arrive, beam down several retrovirus canisters, and the entire Wraith presence on that planet was transformed...

Unfortunately, the latest attempts to make the retrovirus permanent had backfired, and caused the Retrovirus to go overboard in the wrong direction- increasing the Irratus Bug DNA within the Wraith, and decreasing their human DNA to practically nothing.

The settlement wiped itself out in a blood-lust fueled frenzy within hours.

The one man behind it all at the IOA was still not pleased. Albert Monroe insisted that this Retrovirus be perfected, to 'permanently' neutralize the Wraith threat.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was an episode that I felt could probably have just been skipped over... if not for the fact that Lucius shows up later, and the fact that I wanted to show how his little LoveDrug wouldn't work on Alternians. Plus... there was just that whole planet covered in Wraith sitting on a stash of LovePlants just begging to be experimented on... and it backfired. Whoops. You may be starting to get the impression that this Retrovirus business is a bad idea. 
> 
> You'd be right.
> 
> SCHEDULE:  
> Tomorrow: SGA:03X04: Sateda, Ronon goes home.  
> Next: SG1:10X07: Counterstrike, Damara starts some shit.  
> After: ALT:10X02: Illusionary Fireworks Dazzle On the Highway.  
> Later: SGA:03X05: Progeny (Part 1), AKA, that one with That Guy.


	17. SGA:03X04: Sateda

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ronon goes home.

**EARTH DATE: MAY 12TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/20/0005.**  
  
Your name is John Sheppard, and honestly? Coming upon a recently Wraith Ravaged Village is one thing.

Having the people point their weapons at your team because they think RONON is someone that JUST brought the Wraith to their village? That's another thing that's entirely different.

Convincing them that they've got a major case of mistaken identity?

...Not happening.

Mckay was the only one who made it through the Gate- Teyla saw him make it before she got stunned. Which had happened after you and Ronon got stunned. Not with stunners, mind you. Not even with Zats. Nope. Plain old good fashioned Tree Frog Poison Darts with a paralytic.

Life Generally SUCKS right now.

Ronon's trying to convince them they've got the wrong guy- that while he was a runner he'd never been here. That whatever runner may have looked like him and came through here and brought the Wraith was setting him up.

Honestly, you think you've got a pretty good idea of who's behind this stunt. The date that this village got raided? A few days before Ford sent Michael Kenmore to you to get 'fixed' for whatever damned reason.

While you have some simple idea of what Ford was doing to cause this, the rest of it just doesn't track.

Why would Ford frame Ronon?

The answer provides itself as Ronon tells the villagers to go ahead and call the Wraith, and let them take him. Just as long as his friends- aw, he means you and Teyla!- are let go.

"If there's a Wraith that hurt your village because they were hunting someone using my name? Then I'll kill that Wraith dead, and it's never going to happen again," Ronon declares. "But you have to believe me when I tell you- I've NEVER been to this planet before in my entire life. You, and the Wraith, both have the wrong person to blame behind all of this."

...The Villagers agree to Ronon's Demands, and you realize, this was what Ford's plan was- before Elwurd showed up and caused all that trouble with the Wraith Hiveship.

You and Teyla are let go- but not before you slip Ronon a small bag of snacks 'for the road'- within which are a bunch of currently inactive subspace tracking devices.

You got the idea from Ba'al's latest stunt, and decided to carry some around incase of emergency.

Well, here's an emergency.

* * *

 

**O < \--- [STARGATE: ATLANTIS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0) \--- >O**

* * *

 

You are now Ronon Dex, and just at about the fifteen minute mark that would have been Telya and Sheppard reaching the Stargate and getting back to Atlantis, the Wraith arrived.

You were taken onboard and a familiar face grinned back at you- the Wraith commander that had culled Sateda.

...Whatever gears of fate set this in motion, whoever was using your name, you're going to either thank them or punch them.

A tracker is put in your back- no different from the one you intentionally swallowed to let Sheppard track you down where-ever the Wraith took you except that it's a lot bigger and definitely bug shaped and definitely not designed to be consumed- and then the Wraith taunts you-

"I once fed from the humans of your homeworld, and that is where I will watch you die."

You're left to sit in a cell until you arrive at your destination- Sateda- and as you sit, you stew, and think, and plan.

You sincerely doubt that the Wraith left that planet alone, but you can hope. And in the mean time... you've got plans to make. You're going to kill every wraith this bastard sends your way, and then you're going to kill him, even if its the last thing you do.

* * *

 

You are Teyla Emaggan, and you sigh as you look at the utterly ruined village. "Half an hour... we were gone for half an hour and the Wraith utterly culled the village."

It doesn't take long for the Wraith, especially with a village that had already been harassed not more than a month ago.

"Idiots," John remarks, even as Lorne hands over Ronon's gun, gun holster, and sword. "They didn't want to listen. Now Ronon's being sent who knows where."

"We will find him," you console him. "Rodney is already checking for the subspace trackers, if Ronon ate one, then we WILL find him."

"Let's get back to Atlantis then," John says. "We'll take the Daedalus as soon as he's got a lock."

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: MAY 12TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 11/20/0005.**

You are now again Ronon Dex.

You're beamed down onto Satedan soil, surrounded by familiar streets.

You remember this place. Your squad moving through cover behind you as you headed your way towards the Stargate...

You retrace familiar steps, and peer down at the ruins of the area where the Stargate is. You hear the whining keen of a Dart, and see it heading that way.

You turn away, not wanting to see what happens next.

You hear the explosion of the Gate being buried in rubble yet again. You hope it wasn't too badly damaged, but getting over there to check on it is a death sentence.

You get a move on, no sense standing still. A Wraith has no doubt been deposited nearby for the hunt to begin.

Your final RUN.

You return home- you raid the debris in the basement for your safe boxes, and find them. You... You remember Melena as you gear up with the rusted knives. You remember your love for her, and her anger, standing at the bed, glaring, angry, at you... grabbing your arm...

You shake the memories away before you remember the explosion.

You hear a Wraith's breath and the creaking of old floor boards above, moving for the stairs...

You take an old pipe from the floor and secure a knife to it with cloth from the drapes you were going to put up the next weekend after all of the fighting broke out- before the fighting broke out, you'd thought- making it into a makeshift sword.

You wait in the basement, above and behind a doorway in the rafters of the unfinished basement ceiling- always another project for another day- and you wait for the Wraith.

It enters the room, and you descend upon it.

Within moments, it is dead, and you emerge from your house victorious.

Wave One, complete.

* * *

 

"Given the fact that Sateda's stargate is once again offline, I think it's safe to say the Wraith have disabled it," you are Mikari Aiikho, and you give the order. "Colonel Caldwell, Colonel Sheppard, go get our man back."

John nods, "We will."

* * *

 

You are still Ronon Dex, though the period of time within which you reside is getting hazy.

You pass the corpses of your squad within the sewers. You loot their weapons, and wish those damned villagers hadn't confiscated your Sylladex. You wear their armor, and believe that their spirits are with you today, guiding you to victory once more.

"I'm out of ammo!" one of your men had cried out.

"There's a depot two blocks down, Go!" You'd told him.

He died before he could get here.

You get to the depot, find the ammo cases, and the bandolier with artillery shells. You don it.

You hear splashes in the sewer nearby, and prepare for another strike by climbing above, yet again.

The Wraith passes by, armed with a large stunner rifle. What kind of game is the boss even playing here? They really ought to play to win if they seriously want you dead.

They never learn.

You fire hell down from above with your friends Magnum.

Then, you jump down, and double tap- you blast its head clear off, just to be su-

Wait.

You whirl around, and spot a camera drone.

You scoff, approaching it. It almost whines as if in fear. Stupid programming- cameras drones aren't alive. "You're gonna have to do better than that," you say, and then walk away.

At the safe distance, you unpin a grenade and shoulder chuck it.

_**BABLAM!!!!** _

Your memories resurface.

The Chieftain bragging over the radio about how Sateda would not bow. To put your bravery on the line and defend the nation- the planet!!

You remember Melena listening to it, not packing, despite the amount of leverage you'd pulled to get her on Kell's staff. Kell...

Kell who now lies dead. Kell the criminal who used people's fear for his own gain.

The Hospital needed her? There wasn't going to be any need for hospitals going forwards.

"That's just a bunch of words meant to make the people who don't get to leave…think there's a chance for them. We shot down two ships that came through the 'gate. Two…small ships. Do you really think that's all they're going to send?" You were mad. So mad...

She weeped, and then angrily, she asked you why you were staying. You had no choice.

She didn't understand. she thought you believed in the fight. That you 'knew' that the Wraith would 'go away' if you showed them Sateda wasn't worth the effort.

She grabbed your arm, standing next to the bed you'd had plans to share as husband and wife, but never got to that point.

"Ronon!" She'd told you, demanding, "You can't run forever."

You head to the warehouse, lay your weapons out where you'll need them- predicting the flow of battle.

A commander, and guards, four this time. You know it before you even hear their Dart wheezing by.

As you wait for them to make the building's entrance, you feel a bit of static in the air, along your fingers and hands.

You glance at them- and you see some small sparks dancing across your fingers- crimson red like your favored gun.

...That's new.

Now isn't the time to experiment, though.

A Wraith Guard enters the warehouse, pauses at the sight of all the weapons around the room.

You take out the shotgun and fire, dodging out of cover.

**_PCH-BWAM!!!_ **

It makes entirely the wrong sound.

It makes entirely the wrong damage against the Wraith as it plows it into a large crate.

That gun didn't come from Sateda. It doesn't fire like these guns fire- these guns fire like the Atlantian's Guns. Your Gun is unique and one of a kind...

The rest of the Wraith guards run in- their commander descends from aboce.

You remember the ambush in the sewers- the regret you've had of finding your unique Magnum and of how you wished you had it back then.

You roar, rolling over a packing crate, and then you fire the shotgun again.

 _ **PCH-BWAM!**_ Miss!

You toss it, not bothering to reload because you couldn't find the ammo for it, and duck behind another crate to grab two more guns.

The Static clings to your fingers and hands, and all over the pistols.

You dodge out, and fire with the one gun- _ **PCH-BWAM! PCH-BWAM!**_

A guard goes down. You duck, pause, switch to the other, fire out- _**PCH-BWAM! PCH-BWAM!-**_ and down another guard goes.  
  
You discard those guns as they click empty, then you riun and slide across the floor- you grab a machine gun, and fire at the leader of the group, crawling about the rafters above like a damned bug.

_**PCH-BWA-BWA-BWA-BWAM!** _

He falls to the floor, and you drop the machine gun to dodge fire from the last guard- you kick up a rifle, take aim at catwalk it got onto somehow- and PCH-BWAM!!!

It falls, dead, once again.

Instinct tells you not to confirm the kill.

You run out of the warehouse, and get clear before it explodes.

You check your hands, and see them still covered in that weird static.

...Okay, maybe it was the right time for experimenting.

* * *

 

"May I speak with you?"

You are John Sheppard, and you look up as Teyla stands near you in the Daedalus cafeteria.

You captchalogue your laptop and say, "Yeah, what's up?"

"I just wanted to thank you," she says, taking the seat across from you.

"For what?"

"For going after Ronon this way," she says. You raise an eyebrow as if to challenge why (Thanks, Teal'c), and Teyla' continues, "He... is an outsider. Among your people, even among mine. He is... very different from most of us."

"You're not outsiders to me," you say. "I've trusted you guys from the get go."

"Yes, you and... Doctor Weir and Mikari Aiikho have helped in everyone being very accepting of us, helping the Athosians to set up again and again... lending us the Alpha Site even knowing that you originally intended it for your own use..." Teyla smiles. "But this shows me how far you would go, even for someone not of either of your galaxies. Especially someone so different from the rest of us."

"Y'know..." You start. "Teyla, I'm not good at words sometimes. So, pardon me in advance if I say something weird, but... Different is about how I felt growing up," you pause. "I've brought it up before, I think, but... Jade, Rose, Argo, and I all lived in a bad end timeline. Our powers weren't the norm at all. They were so abnormal we knew that if the Aschen got their hands on us... so we hid. And then we reset time, and changed the future." You work your mouth for a moment. "I.. I've lost my family. My original one. The one from my timeline. The only people who really know what I've been through are our Jolinar, Argo, Rose, and Jade. We..."

Teyla lets you take as long as you need to gather your thoughts.

"Even when we came back in time, we still felt like outsiders to everything. To everyone. There are younger copies of each of us still running around. And... Everyone's been so caring, so patient, And yeah, they're family, but there's still this disconnect. And it might get smaller and smaller with each passing day, but..." You shake your head. "You, and Ronon, Mikari, everyone on AR-2, and hell, even Rodney are some of the closest people I have to feeling like I have a family outside of that tight knit circle. You guys don't treat us like... don't look at us like we're different. Like there's this guessing, or this comparing. This wondering if our other selves will be anything like we are, or if our lives have just been so fucked up that we're just... damaged in comparison."

"I suppose... there is a reason that all of you came to Atlantis, in the end, isn't there?" Teyla muses.

"Yeah," you swallow, trying to keep from bursting into tears. "Listen, Teyla. I'd do anything for any one of you.  You're my friends. My family. If I had to I'd..." You trail off, as Teyla reaches out a hand and pats your own hand with it. You can't say the words, but she knows it anyways.

"Thank you, John," she says. "It's very appreciated. And, I hope that it never comes to any kind of sacrifice of that nature."

"Yeah," you nod. "Me too."

* * *

 

You are still Ronon Dex, and you hide in the Sateda Hospital, checking yourself for wounds as you think back to that day.

Rushing through the hallways, calling for Melena...

"Where's your squad?" Melena asked as you finally find her.

"They're all dead," you told her that Kell used you for his own escape. There was a chance to get everyone you can to the Gate. Melena, and the patients, and the doctors and nurses...

A girl laid in bed nearby, and Melena asked about her- the girl whose parents were dead.

The girl you'd picked up, and gotten out of the way, intending to carry her by hand and then--

And then there was an explosion, and it overtook her, and she was gone.

You look at the wall where it happened- see the scorched outline on the ground vaguely in the shape of a human being...

And you remember taking that Girl to the Gate and getting her out through it before you were stunned and captured.

Implanted.

Tracked.

**_Runner._ **

You glance out the window, and see several Wraith Guards patroling the streets.

You hear the whirling of another camera drone, and you glance at it.

"You are a fucking coward, you know that, right?" You growl at the camera. "You and everything you've ever done. You sit up there on your throne like a fucking warlord letting your soldiers hunt me down for sport while you watch? You hear me..." You need a name for him. "DO YOU HEAR ME, BARON!?" You gather sparks of crimson in your hand. "You are a COWARD! Come and Face me like a fucking warrior!"

And then you hurl a ball of crimson energy straight into the camera drone- and it explodes with a _**PCH--BWAM!!**_

"Well that's new."

You whirl on the door to the room, and then relax as you see Sheppard and Teyla entering the room.

"Well, hey," Sheppard says, "don't look all surprised. You knew we were coming!"

"Are you okay?" Teyla asks.

"I'll be fine once I kill that bastard who's running this," you say. "...What happened to the village?"

"Wiped out," Teyla answers.

"Damn, just another list of names to carve on the Baron's gravestone," you say. You like the name. The Baron is going to hate it. "How'd you get here anyways?"

"Daedalus is hiding behind a nearby planet's moon, we flew in with a cloaked Jumper," Sheppard explains. "Kanaya and Beckett are in the Jumper waiting on the roof for us."

Sheppard's radio buzzes- Kanaya reports: _"I feel you should be advised, there's twenty five wraith heading to your position from ground level."_

"Thanks, Kanaya," John says. "It seems we're taking out the boss before we leave."

"Good," Kanaya says. _"Make sure you finish this quick, or I will take a chainsaw to his waist."_

You scoff. "I'll make sure to finish it quick, alright."

You look at the glowing energy in your hand and-

"I dunno if you need this anymore," Sheppard suddenly says, handing you your Magnum. "But here."

"Thanks," you take it, holster and all, and attach it to your waist.

You pick up the one spare handgun you have left with a full cartridge of ammo... but you wonder if you even need that anymore.

You eject the cartridge, and pocket it.

You focus your newfound power through the emptied weapon, and....

It makes the same charging noise as the gun Sheppard just returned to you.

"...Infinite ammo cheat?" John asks.

You just grunt while shrugging slightly. "Who cares."

"So," Teyla hesitates, "Shall we go kill some Wraith, or should we wait long enough for Kanaya to come down with her Chainsaw?"

"Just stay to my six," you say, hoping you got the lingo right. "Don't shoot anything unless its flanking us."

"Got it," Sheppard nods.

And then you exit the room, and pose dramatically at the top of the only surviving stairwell to this floor  like a team because shit's about to get real.

The Wraith peering up at you from a lower floor hesitate, and then wisely run back down the bottleneck they so handily shoved themselves in.

You roar, and open fire.

* * *

 

Your name is Kanaya Maryam, and you watch the Jumper's lifesigns HUD displaying a rapidly depelting amount of Wraith lifesigns.

"This is nuts," Beckett says. "They're outnumbered twenty two to- Twenty- eighteen... God Damn it! Stop killing them so fast! I can't keep up!"

"Would you rather I join them with my chainsaw, Doctor Beckett?" You ask.

There's a brief pause, then he says, "...No, actually, I don't think I wouldn't."

Seven, five, three, one.

Zero Live Wraith, and Twenty Five dead ones.

 _"Was that all of them?"_ John radios.

"Yes," you answer, "that was all of them."

 _"I think I got six... Teyla..."_ John pauses. _"Eight. Teyla got eight. Ronon got the rest."_

Beckett does the math. "Ronon killed Eleven Wraith? My God... I can't imagine the smell."

The Jumper detects an incoming Wraith Dart.

"Sheppard, Ronon, Teyla," you radio, "Incoming Wraith Dart."

 _"Ronon says that'll be him,"_ John radios. _"...Best warm up the jumper. I think we might be leaving pretty quick, if Ronon's speed running this."_

You nod to Beckett, and he starts powering up the cloaked Jumper to take off.

* * *

 

"Fair warning," you tell Teyla and Sheppard, "you kill him before I do, I kill you."

"What if he kills you first?" Sheppard asks.

"Then you kill him," you say. "Of course, if I don't beat him in three minutes, Kanaya's welcome to kill him however she wants."

"I'll pass along the message," Sheppard says, and he and Teyla take cover as you wait at the street entrance to the hospital.

The Dart wheezes by, and it drops down that bastard Baron.

Neither of you say anything.

The Wraith screams at you. _"DEEEEEEEX!!!"_

You roar right back at him, _"BAAAAROOOON!"_

The Wraith falters, unsure of that declaration.

You don't rush him, instead, you hurl a ball of explosive energy at the bastard.

_**PCH-BWAM!** _

Of course he dodges, and starts running at you.

You run, tackle him, and then get thrown into a door for your troubles.

_Ow._

That hurt.

No, actually, getting pulled up by your HAIR hurts even more. Damn.

You elbow the Baron and he punches you in the face.

Neither blow staggers either of you, but it gets you separated. You attack again- he dodges or tanks your punches.

You try a tackle- the Wraith tries to toss you aside again, but you blast the ground beneath his feet.

**_PCH-BWAM!_ **

That actually throws you into a support post on a porch, the Baron tumbles around, staggered in surprise.

You spit out some blood as you try to get to your feet. The Wraith is in no better condition.

You both stagger at each other, and then throw some weak sauce punches. Even by Wraith Standards, this guy's barely putting any effort in.

Seriously? All of this and he's a weakling? Either that or he took more damage than he appeared to.

Unfortunately you took more damage than you thought, too. You're finding it hard to stand.

You get knocked to the ground, and you're forced to block some more weak ass punches that are starting to either get stronger, or you're getting weaker.

And then the fucking Puddle Jumper de cloaks right behind the Baron. He doesn't see it.

You smirk as you see Kanaya motioning a slicing motion across her throat before pointing at the Wraith.

The Baron stops, and stands, and then turns around as he finally hears the Jumper's engine humming- you spot some blood from his ears and you guess you ruptured something.

Your name is Ronon Dex, and...

"I Win."

Oh, you wish you could see the Baron's face as the Jumper suddenly rams forwards- sailing clean over your head, but not the Wraith's.

You close your eyes, and revel in the glorious sound of flesh rending and bone snapping.

You hear your beloved Melena calling your name... but then it passes in the wind.

When you open your eyes again, its to suddenly feeling tons better, and not like you went three minutes with a Wraith.

Kanaya is staring at you, concern in her eyes, and John and Teyla stand behind her...

You're inside the Jumper.

"How long was I out?" You ask.

"About a minute," Kanaya says, sighing in relief. "You fragmented your spine fairly heftily with that last explosion you pulled. Lots of internal bleeding. You're lucky we got to you when we did."

"Thanks," You say. "And the tracker-?"

"Here," Teyla hands you the bloodied thing.

You glare at it, summon up a burst of crimson energy within your hand, and vaporize the damned thing.

"Oh," Kanaya smiles. "Thats..."

"New?" You offer.

"Yes, I suppose that was the word I was looking for," Kanaya says. "Though I was also going to consider 'Poetic Justice' or 'karmicly relevant.' But honestly I think I will settle for 'Familiar Territory.'"

You shake your head, and get to your feet.

"I like mine better," You say.

"Yes, I suppose it works that way too," Kanaya nods.

"Welcome back, Ronon," Sheppard says, offering a smile.

"Thanks," you nod. "Good to be back."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Behold, Ronon's Rift granted powers- Turns anything he wants into a focus for his gun's blaster energy.
> 
> So, that's Teyla with mild pyrokenesis/Fire control, John as the Windy Airbender, Rodney with the force shields, and now Ronon with blast-em-all powers.
> 
> Gotta wonder what the limits are on that one, huh?
> 
> This was probably another episode I could've skipped on but.... I just enjoyed it too much.


	18. SG1:10X07: Counterstrike.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damara unleashes some chaos on the galaxy.

**EARTH DATE: MAY 14TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/22/0005.**  
  
Things had not been going well for the Andromeda Ascendants. Not for them, or their followers, promised enlightenment and Ascension. 

And now a Jaffa world that had capitulated to Gerak's rule to begin with, and had followed with the Ascendants through to the present day... were about to feel just another backlash of karmic retribution.

Your name is Damara Megido, and you crack a smile as you take a container with a slimy, wriggling sort of interdimensional paraside, and jab it into the neck of a slumbering CHARBEAR you'd kidnapped from an Alternian Settlement, and release the seal.

The creature burrowed into the CHARBEAR'S FLESH, and then, under the careful acceleration of time through your own abilities, that flesh began to mutate. It grew, and it grew, and Oh. MY! Did. It. Grow.

And thus the already fearsome Alternian predator became even more fearsome.

And even more deadlier.

You backed away from it, released the mutated beast from its temporal prison, and gave it a psychic slap to the rear.

The beast awoke, enraged, and it roared-  but you were long gone before it could turn on you.

It took but hours for the settlement to be annihilated.

And when the job was done, she casually faked a distress signal to the Jaffa aligned with the Tok'ra and the SGC.

They would do the job of forwarding the message for you.

The Andromeda Ascendants wished to be worshiped as gods? As English? As Anubis? As those pitiful Ori once did before they were consumed?

Well. Then you would just have to target their followers and take them out. One by one. World by world. Their 'food supply' of powerful prayer and worship would dwindle until they had nothing left.

You would give them all a day to spread the message... and then...

Then you begin your STRIKE at the heart of the Andromeda Ascendants' power base. And then, once you've killed the sufficient amount of numbers... you will go for Merlin's Weapon, and use it against them.

You have seen every possible future based off of every possible decision you could think of making, after all. You hold all the cards, and that is simply because you are the Dealer. The maestro of your own fate for the first time in millions of thousands of hundreds of years.

What the players of the game do with them is up to them... but as long as you deal their fate to them? Well... You're not going to let them cheat, now, are you?

And once you've taken care of the Andromeda Ascendants, fools for daring to think they could control you, well...

There is but one foolish fish left in the grand cosmic scale of the multiverse powerful enough to disrupt your plans and ever consider himself brave and bold enough to even try taking control over your fate again.

He, you will save for last. And once he is dead? His powers justly scattered across splinters, never to be reassembled again?

Only then will you rest, and live out the rest of your life.  

In the mean time, you now need to see about setting up for collecting one other tiny, but heavily significant piece of the puzzle.

* * *

 

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw)

* * *

 

 **EARTH DATE: MAY 16TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/24/0005.**  
  
"That's five settlements that have been converted to the Andromeda Ascendants cult that've been destroyed now," your name is Cameron Mitchel, and you wince as you look at the latest report. "The fuck is going on here?"

"Well," Vala says, "if it's this Damara chick, it's a very salted earth strategy. Leaving the monsters behind to rule the planet after wiping out the villagers."

Cassandra enters the conference room, ooking concerned, "We just heard back from Alternia." She reports. "More Relocated Alternian animals were spotted as being stolen with 'flashes of crimsion light, leaving circular cuts in the ground misplaced from somewhere else.' That brings our total of missing animals up to ten."

"So, Damara's stealing Alternian beasts to wipe out Andromeda's followers," you summarize. "Why?"

"Because she's lowering their potential power levels," Jonas says, entering the room with Jude trailing after. 

"It's a similar strategy to what we used against English to weaken him," Jude says. "With the Ark of Truth."

"Cut off their supply of worship, cut off their supply of super powers," Cassandra nods, taking a seat.

"So why not steal this Ark and use that?" Vala asks. "Why go murder happy on the people?"

"It sends a better message," Jonas says, shaking his head. "'You follow the path of the Andromeda Ascendants, and you die,' That's the threat."

"It'll certainly rile them up," you say. "Those wanna-be Ori are going to be buckling down on their remaining settlements, and I'll bet you there's atleast five major ones they'll be protecting."

"The question I have is this," Jude says. "What does Damara do once she's wiped out the Andromeda's followers? She clearly has some means of making monsters on demand. So... what does she do with that?"

"You think she might use it against us," Cassandra guesses.

"Or anyone else she doesn't like," Jude nods. "We have to be careful about this."

And then the Stargate dials in- and refugee Jaffa start hurrying through the Gate.

* * *

 

You are now Samantha Carter, and you look over at Teal'c as he walks onto the Ha'tak's bridge with a grim expression on his face.

"What's wrong, Teal'c?" You ask.

"A Dragon appeared to attack one of our Villages," Teal'c answers. "The survivors have fled to Earth, and I am told that the Delta Megaship has been dispatched to intercept the creature and destroy it."

"Is it really that big?" You ask. "And a Dragon? Really?"

"It appears to be a mutated form of an Alternian 'Solar Eyed Dragon Lusus,'" Teal'c says. "Apparently it was stolen from a private reserve by Damara Medigo just this morning."

 _[I thought Dragons didn't exist in this dimension,]_ Jolinar remarks. 

_'Somebody forgot about Alternia if they told you that,'_ you say internally, and outwardly instead ask: "Why would Damara attack a Jaffa Settlement?" 

"I do not believe she did," Teal'c says. "The survivors reported that the creature followed someone from the last raided settlement through the Stargate- that is where it originated from."

"Shit," you swear. "So... Damara forgot to make the creatures limited to the planets they're on by leaving the Stargates active."

"Indeed," Teal'c nods. "A grave mistake indeed."

You fidget with the engagement ring on your finger as you consider all of this. "...So, what do we do? Leave the Corinth Rift unguarded to go help?"

"No," Teal'c shakes his head. "Master Bra'tac and O'neill agree that we are to secure the Stargate and that if one of these creatures appears on the world below, we are to bombard it from orbit before it can make it to Corinth City." He pauses, then says. "I believe it may be more prudent to capture one alive. We still have the time dilation devices, yes?"

"I built them anyways just in case the IOA suddenly changed their minds, but yeah," you nod.

"Then I will escort one of the devices to the Stargate to forward to the SGC," Teal'c says. "They may attempt to capture one, find out the cause of these creatures transformations... and if we likewise come across one, we capture it."

"Good," you say. "I'm tired of sitting on my ass waiting for the IOA to stop being asses."

 _[Agreed,]_ Jolinar says. _[This is going to get out of hand if somebody does not do something about the IOA's overreaching.]_

 _'Tell me about it,'_ you agree.

* * *

 

You are now Rider, and things feel...

Off.

Artoria has returned to the realm of relevancy once again- cheated death yet again- and yet...

There's something off.

Artoria smiles, and is giving you affection and... and you've barely talked about what happened because you just get told that "It's forgiven" for what you did and---

And that's not how you wanted any of this to go. Not how you expected it, or... Or felt like you needed it to go inorder to have closure.

And what's more? Artoria refuses to return to your native dimension.

Artoria is staying in Corinth! Corinth!! And insisted you should go back to work with the SGC! Then Callie Ohphee gave you a disk of data to take back to Earth securely.

So. You did head back, very reluctantly. Long trip back. Rift, to Gate, to Earth.

Okay, not THAT long, but... Long enough for you to reflect. And reflect hard not just on the disk of data, or Artoria, but someone else that's been bugging you.  
Hal Strider.

He's refused to go back to Earth yet too. Refused to even go back to Diaspora to the apartment he'd been taken from.

Something was OFF about all of this.

But who do you even talk to about THIS?

As you take your sweet ass time to dial the stargate for Earth, you just can't help but feel like you're missing out on somethi--

The Gate starts dialing in rather abruptly.

Instinct has you hide, and it's damned good reason to.

A lumbering beast emerges from the gate after its KAWOOSH, looking like it ought to have once been a Lion. Except not. It's massive, and it has five tails, and three mouths on two heads each.

Its fur should be white, you can tell, but it's mottled with crimson splashes.

Blood.

It turns its eyes towards you, and roars.

Damned good sense of smell too- you guess as you take flight and RUN FOR THE RUINS! (And the Rift, because FUCK you need fire power!)

The Lion chases you, slow and lumbering- it knows you'll run out of steam before it does.

You grab your radio and inquire, "WHO THE FUCK ORDERED A TWO HEADED LION!?"

Carter radios you back- telling you to change course away from ruins of the Venjix Palace and instead head towards the landed Ha'tak.

You change course because there's apparently a PLAN.

You run, and run, and run. And maybe you consider renaming yourself to SPRINTER instead of RIDER, but that just ruins the whole THEME you were aiming towards.

A Zat Shot PCH-ZYU's over head as the ha'tak comes into view, striking the beast chasing you. It roars in anger- otherwise unphased.

Staff fire follows suit, and you spot Carter waving you over to a landing hatch for the Ha'tak's interior. You zip inside, and follow her to the ring platform...

...and then past it, stopping on the other side of it, at the control console for the Rings.

"What are we doing!?" You ask.

"Just giving it some bait!" Carter answers, punching in all but the last button.

And thus, the multi-headed Lion- and a heavily mutated one you're now realizing, going by the odd growths bulging out of its shoulders- steps into view.

It growls with both heads, and then starts stalking towards you....

"Carter??" You start-

"Just another second...!"

And then the lion steps into the circle of Rings, and Carter punches in the last button.

_**SKREEEEE!** _

_**PVMMMMM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM-VRRRM!** _

"TEAL'C NOW!" Carter orders into her radio as- _**WOOOOOOOOSH!**_ -Away the Lion goes, and the rings descend with their closing VRRRM-spam and shut closed.

There's a long pause, and then...

Carter's radio buzzes with Teal'c's voice, "We have successfully captured the creature, Samantha Carter."

"Trapped it in what?" You ask, even as Carter sighs in relief.

"A Time Dilation field we set up on one of the decks," Carter answers. "We're going to study it as best as we can at range, then kill it, and study it up close."

"Well... that was crazy!" You say. "What the hell was that thing anyways?"

This time, Jolinar answers, **"A creature Damara no doubt sent to harass us with. One of many she's set loose on the galaxy."**

"There's More of those things!?" You ask.

* * *

 

The Delta Megaship dropped out of hyperspace, and began its rapid descent towards the planet that the creature had migrated to. 

The Jaffa Village of Rathgar was settled in a valley between two large mountain ranges.

As for the mutated Dragon Lusus...

It had gotten big.

Very Big.

So big it wouldn't fit through the Stargate again big.

Big enough that it was able to put its chest  atop the roof of a building, and level it with its body weight alone.

And yet, despite the overall increase in body mass of the thing, its forelimbs HADN'T grown to match. So, this massive dragon with eyes gleaming with the heat of the sun had two tiny, almost vestigial limbs dangling off its sides. It was being forced to use its wings as forward limbs to hold itself up.

And... well. Honestly, it looked more like a Wyvern and a T-Rex had an ugly affair with an ectobiology machine than it did an Alternian Dragon at this point.

"Awh, fuck," you are Major Karkat Vantas, and you peer at the beast. "Someone tell me we're still big enough to fight this thing?"

"We'll be cutting it Close, Sir," Stelsa reports as she taps at a console. "If it gets any bigger or its scales any tougher..."

The dragon roared, a terrifying, almost pants wetting roar as it spotted the Delta Megaship on approach.

"Alright," you turn back to the pilots. "Transform and kill this thing!"

The Delta Megazord transformed and landed in the streets, readying its Gatling blasters at the overgrown dragon.

It reared its head back, and then belched loose a massive stream of fire at the Delta Megazord.

The energy absorbing armor tanked the blast with ease, and then the Megazord fired back with its Gatling lasers.

The bolts splashed against the monsters scales- but the explosions they caused tore them loose, and caused blood to start to spill from the beast.

It's eyes gleamed-

"DODGE!" You order, and the Megazord does such even as the air you used to be standing in exploded.

The Solar Eyed Dragon Lusus was called that because its eyes were as fiercely burning as Alternia's old star had been.

Merely gazing into those eyes without something blocking the gaze was enough to burn your own eyes out and go blind. When the Dragon wanted something exploded, though? Explosions manifested where it willed, almost as if by magic.

But it wasn't magic. It was a series of chemical reflectors hidden within the skull and behind the eyes that made some kind of explosive, eye-directed nearly invisible laser fire out at the target. And where two beams met.... Explosions happened.

"Craaap!" You yell. "Switch from standard shells to Squid Drone Shells!"

"Roger!!"

The next salvo of firepower to leave the Delta's Gatling guns was a swarm of golden squid drones of Alternian make and modification that held a little in common with the Lantean version of them, but only due to a common ancestor thousands of years ago with a divergence point of, well, the Destiny turning in the opposite direction it could have gone.

The drone blasts ripped into the Dragon's hide, and it let loose another burst of fire in response.

The Megazord dodged, and let loose more Drones, then the lasers from the shoulder canons fired.

The Dragon made the horrible mistake of trying to make us explode again at that moment- and the laser beams struck it in the eyes.

More than that- they carried on just a bit further- to the expansive glands of chemical refractors that made its laser eyes equally possible.

The Poor thing never got a chance to let loose a death cry, and fell to the ground as flames belched forth from its face.

It lay there for a few moments, silently...

You dare to exhale after it doesn't move for a solid minute.

"Okay, let's clean this shit up, and radio SGC that we've dealt with it," you say. 

...Dave is going to be so pissed you went on a dragon hunt without him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So... yeah. Those Sodan Cloaking Devices allow mutagenic creatures from another dimension to slip through the walls of existence and enter our world. The radiation normally keeps them away, but... well...
> 
> Damara wanted it gone. This is why.
> 
> Geeze, what the hell is even her problem? 
> 
> Ah, reader question. What's even with Damara, do you think? Do any of her planned goals seem to line up with what she's doing?


	19. ALT:10X02: Illusionary Fireworks Dazzle On the Highway.

**EARTH DATE: MAY 16TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/24/0005.**  
  
Your name is Polypa Goezee, and Step Three is taking a long time. Well, okay, barely two weeks so far, but the point remains that you've barely got any real consistent schedule for this guy nailed down yet. You're going to have to keep at it for atleast another two weeks to be sure that the mark's off-the-books movements are following any real consistent schedule, even if he's not aware of it.

The only times he goes on his own away from his bodyguards and the job he manages, and he's gone to the same shitty steak bar again and again and again. Every damned night without exception so far.

You've only visited it for the second and third times every seven days from your fist visit, establishing a single pattern of a once a week visit. He might get suspicious otherwise. You chose a booth this week, and aren't anywhere near the bar. 

Sitting at a booth alone normally might be a red flag to the paranoids, but you're selling it by having a physical book plopped down on the table next to you as you eat.

Its some sensationalist novel drama fodder that promises to make for some sensationalist Television drama some day, but you care little for that. 

Your mark, Albert Monroe, sits at the bar, back to you, unaware of your presence tonight.

The steaks aren't even that great. Why does he come here?

It doesn't matter. His phone rings suddenly,and he goes to answer.

You've got work to do, and a call to listen in on.

He sounds outraged- "What do you MEAN the Disk wasn't intercepted!?"

And then Albert Monroe gets up from his desk and absconds for the door, leaving an unpaid check and unfinished meal at the bar, much to the waiter on duty's annoyance.

"Hey! You'd better come back, man!" the probable-stoner with a name tag of "S. Rogers" calls out, annoyed. "So not cool!"

You don't follow, but you text Vriska to let her know the mark's on the move.

You head over and decide to make mister "Shaggy" Roger's day a bit better, and offer to cover the meal if the guy doesn't return.

* * *

 

**O) < -[ STARGATE: ALTERNIA ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHTke_0BlD0)\- >(O**

* * *

 

You are now Vriska Serket- more normally called Ashler Dering when you're not doing shit like spying, and you're using your illusion powers to subtly make yourself appear like someone else entirely because ROSE REALLY FORGOT ABOUT THAT, you suspect, as your illusion pretends to light up a cigarette and listen to music as he barges outside, raging on his cellphone.  
  
You tune a small piece of your psychic ability to cast illusions to listen in to the other side.

"I mean what I said. The creature failed to intercept the messenger like I'd planned," a female voice says. "if you really want this data so bad, you should have had me crash the city closer to Corinth, instead of across the continent."

"No, it HAD to be there. Or else the nanomachine storm wouldn't be recorded on that disk! I need that AND everything from the city's database at once! Or else none of this goes off the ground! You don't get your requested materials otherwise! You KNOW the deal, Megido."

Well, huh. There's a shocking twist.

"Yes, I know the deal. I made it with you to begin with when I tipped you off as to your estranged cousin's whereabouts," the woman on the other end- likely Damara Megido herself- answers. "Need I remind you that if you don't finish your end of the bargain and assassinate those estranged family members of yours as you want, then you don't get to keep your job at the IOA, which means you don't have any means to make USE of the data on that disk regardless. We both have our issues with this turn of events, Albert. I will correct my end, you finish yours to begin with. I'll expect delivery of the raw materials as promised."

And then the call ends, and Albert yells into the empty line- "Megido!? MEGIDO! Damn it." he hangs up the phone, shoves it roughly into his pocket and glances around.

You ensure that your illusion is looking at an MP3 player and clearly not paying attention at all- focus and ensure that he sees that image so clearly. 

**[There's nobody eavesdropping into your conversation,]** you reassure him. **[You're just paranoid. Overly paranoid. Nobody cares about your potential acts of interplanetary treason, real or fictional.]**

He relaxes somewhat, buying it, and then he...

He goes to his car, swearing a storm about a late night at the office.

You leave that smoker's illusion parked there at the door, in his line of sight, while instead making a second illusion seem to leave the restaurant, and you step into that illusion as you get on your nearby motorbike. 

Albert peels away in his car, and you follow at a distance, dropping the smoker, and instead focusing on making him think you're someone else entirely whenever he goes on a paranoid check of his surroundings.

You use the occasional nudge into his mind to plant an illusion to drag out a bit of surface thought.

He's panicking over having to 'accelerate' his plans. And damn, he seems to be planning on making some bogus excuse to recall Rose and Roxy Lalonde from Atlantis so he can have them killed... along with their other selves here on earth. Roxy and Rose Egbert? Really now? He wants to try to kill them too?

Well. Your CLIENTS need to be saved on principle, but this guy wanting to kill a kid? Geeze, that's just low, even for you.

You pause at a red light some distance behind your mark, and text your partner.

_[Mark wants 2 kill clients 2xOver. 8ump Up Sched?]_

She replies.

_[Yeah. Going to have to do something. Spook him at least.]_

_[Got it.]_ You text back. _[F8k acdnt next intsec]_

He drives, you drive... and then you set up some illusionary traffic accident for him to react to. You make him also think everyone else is driving around it too, when they're actually not.

You follow the Mark, and keep up the Illusions, diverting him into empty streets and making him think he's somewhere he's not. It's a nasty web of illusions and you're having to drop old bits for new ones fairly rapidly, like making a lot of cars drive away down roads that are only there for a few seconds of perspective...

Still.

You've got this in the bag.

You make your current biker illusion stay in place with you as you drift backwards and cast another illusion. Another biker. It drives out around you, and around the mark, gunning for one of the only illusionary cars you have left infront of him.

You put on quite the show of gunplay. The "masked individual" in the car you're "shooting" at shoots back at you. 

The Mark swerves to a halt and you're stop driving too- but you just let the illusions continue on into the distance. The mark just sits there. You make your illusion angry, and storm up to the car window to knock on it rapidly.

"HEY! ASSHOLE!" you have the illusion yell. "The FUCK are you doing!?"

Albert Monroe just sputters- "The- Did you see the--?"

"See What!?" you have the illusion ask. "You swerving to a halt suddenly for no damn good reason!?"

And then you march back to your bike, and start to get it ready to drive again...

Then his phone rings again.

He answers.

It's Damara.

"Remember," she says, nonchalantly. "Do what I said or that becomes you. Oh, and reverse your order, too. The lone wolf must die first."

And then she hangs up again.

Fucking hell, did she predict your scare tactic just now and use it to cement his loyalty to a job??

You can't waste time, you drive off, leaving the Mark alone in the middle of nowhere. 

This distraction alone is going to stall him and make him late to something...

But it's firmed up his plans to get the 'job' done sooner than later. And that job is killing The Lalondes... after he kills Victoria Bradley- who just jumped up his hit list because of Damara's latest order.

You can't hold this off for much longer. The Job HAS to be done, and soon.

* * *

 

You are once again Polypa Goezee, and you scowl. "What could possibly be on that disk beyond nanomachine information that could be so important?"

"Fuck if I know," Vriska shakes her head. "She called my bluff and made it part of her scare tactic. Fucking... how the hell did she know that?"

"More importantly, why not tell him we were following him?" You ask.

"Should we warn the clients?" Vriska asks. "I mean, Roxy and Rose would want to know if this guy's gunning for them. Right?"

"Did you catch how soon he's going to try this?" You ask.

"Within the next week," she answers. "But that's after he offs Victoria Bradley. Personally, if he has to."

"Then we're going to make him have to, and end this when he goes to kill her, then," you decide."I'll keep an eye on her. You keep trailing the Mark. Let me know if you find anything important about what he's doing."

"So we're doing this then, huh? Well, it's about time," Vriska nods.

"Agreed," you say.

Step Three is complete.

Now, it's time for the final stage... Step Four.

The step of Death.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short episode is short. Oh well.


	20. SGA:03X05: Progeny (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You know, Murphy's Law? Anything that can go wrong will go wrong!"

**EARTH DATE: MAY 17TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/25/0005.**  
  
Your name is RICHARD WOOLSEY, and the standard noises of Stargate Operations hone in as a familiar anchor point despite everything that's been going on with your impromptu relocation to another Galaxy.

"Incoming wormhole!" 

_WAAA WAAA! KAWOOOSH!_

"SGC Priority Traveler IDC. Lowering Shield."

You look up from your work- you find it always easiest to be in the thick of things near the Control Room, and today you happen to be working on a report while sitting on the staircase between the Control Room and the Gate Room- to see an SGC Standard Uniform Clad Messenger exit the Gate, bounce up the stairs past you, and head to Mikari Aiikho's office. The Gate shuts down moments later.

You decide to follow and find out what this is about.

As it turns out, another dimension had a city twice the size of Atlantis in the *same style* crash land. And within that CD, among many other fascinating bits of data that were going to a research lab, that had just been brought there was a Gate Address from where in Pegasus the alternate city came from. 

It was a planet called ASURAS, and Mikari immediately ordered a thorough check of the Atlantis Database to see what was there.

When nothing but the gateaddress was found, a MALP was sent through the Gate... and surprisingly, people were discovered on the other side. People wielding Ancient scanners, and warning those seeking them harm to proceed no further, but 'if you come in friendship,' to know that you were welcome.

You immediately petitioned for a diplomatic meeting. Miss Aiikho, on the other hand, hesitated to authorize it. And so did AR-1's team leader, Colonel Sheppard.

"This other city, if that's what it even was, crash landed with only one person onboard," she says. "And I find that incredibly suspicious. There were no corpses, Wraith fed on or otherwise."

"Surely it can't be that bad," you say, taunting Murphy's Law. "Look. If it's any consolation, I'm willing to go out on a limb and make any negotiations work here."  
Mikari fixes you with a gaze. "Fine. You'll Take AR-1 as escorts. But if you botch this, I get to tell you 'I told you so.'"

"How could I possibly botch it?" You ask, once more taunting Murphy's Law. "If they're Ancients-"

"If they're Ancients, you'd better hope they don't decide to arrest us or worse for daring to trespass on Atlantis," Sheppard warns.

"Why would they ever do that for?" You ask once more. "I think you're over-analyzing the situation."

* * *

 

[ **O < \--- STARGATE: ATLANTIS --- >O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0)

* * *

 

The first sign that something was off was the fact that it wasn't just an Atlantis sized City Ship you'd gated onto. No, it was an entire planet covered in Atlantis styled buildings and ships and who knows what else.  
  
The second sign that something was off were the golden armored little scorpion-bots with welding tools for stinger tails that skittered around, mantaining structures or equipment. Scorpion Bots that made you uncomfortably reminded of Replicators. Except they didn't glow, they weren't made of blocks... they just... worked on maintenance.

Mckay was also discomforted, but asked where some of those could be gotten for his own lab needs. 

The third sign that something was off was the response that had been given to that question by tour guide NIAM- they were an original design created within the last few months, and were an experiment based off of designs another visitor who had access to an Ancient facility had given them. A visitor described as a grey skinned woman with orange horns.

The fourth sign that something was off was the fact that the entire planet was run off of ZPMs, and that the Wraith had given these people- the Asurans- no trouble what so ever. Adding onto that, the Asurans had their plans to deal with the Wraith "In their own time" but had not implemented it... ever.

The Fifth Sign that something was wrong that the High Chancelor of Asura's High council- a man named OBEROTH- looked exactly like depictions Joey Claire had given of the crazed D'ni man named Esher. 

The Sixth Sign of things being wrong was when Woolsey FOOLISHLY told them that you were all from Atlantis... well...

Your name is John Sheppard, and you glance at Richard Woolsey, not more than five hours later after stepping through the Gate to Asuras, as your team and he sweat in an Ancient Jail Cell. 

A Jail Cell that you'd been thrown into because APPARENTLY these "Ancients" wanted "Information" from you about Atlantis.

"'Surely it can't be that bad', huh?" You ask.

"Well..." Woolsey pauses.

"'How could you POSSIBLY botch it'?" you ask again.

"That's not fair to say that-"

"Why would they EVER POSSIBLY arrest us?" You ask again.

"How was I supposed to know they'd arrest us for simply coming from Atlantis?" Woolsey asks in turn, finally getting his feet beneath him in this discussion.

"It does seem odd they would have quite the bone to pick with Atlantis," Teyla says. 

"Must've been a falling out," Ronon grunts.

"Oh, yes, one HELL of a falling out," Mckay shakes his head. "I think we've got bigger problems to deal with than that."

"Like what?" Ronon asks.

"Like the fact that SOMEONE gave them designs for those scorpion bot things," Mckay says. "And if I were a betting person, I'd say it's either Damara or Elwurd."

"Damara would explain the other City Ship," you say, peering out the forceshielded jail cell at the empty hallways beyond. "Elwurd's more concerning though. If she got her hands on Mofanplicator blueprints..."

"The scorpions could very well be modified Replicators," Mckay agrees, "which would be very very bad for all of us."

"What're Replicators?" Ronon asks.

"Mechanical Bugs that eat everything and make more of themselves," you sumarize."Few of 'em learned to take human form. Nearly wiped out Milky Way in the process."

"How'd you beat something like that?" Ronon asks.

"We didn't," you say. "Mckay and I were off doing something else at the same time. They kept the specifics of how it worked need to know to the people directly involved."

"All you need to know is there are weapons capable of beating them, if it comes to that," Mckay says.

And then you hear doors opening, and the forcefield around the cell drops.

"Well," Woolsey heads to the cell entrance. "Let's hope we can talk this out without further antagonistic strain on our potential negotiations..."

"I suspect whatever Negotiations are to be had?" Teyla muses, "They will be short."

You prepare to go breeze.

Oberoth enters the room, flanked by four men each, and the jail cell doors open. They enter the cell and spread out, one each menacing towards you.

"Oberoth! I demand to know the mea-" Woolsey doesn't finish that sentence because Oberoth throws his hand forwards and embeds it directly into his skull.

You BREEZE before one of the other guards can do the same to you.

The one who was supposed to grab you and the others who were menacing towards your team all whirl around- tracking your movements with alarming accuracy-

But it's what's needed for opportunity.

Ronon and Teyla shoulder check the ones that were attacking them, and then hurl their respective powers into their attacker's faces.

Flashes of silver render the damage undone within moments, but it's enough to keep them down long enough for Ronon and Teyla to escape the cell.

Mckay's forcefield flares up as the other guard tries to grab and dive its hand into his head.

_"HELL NO YOU DON'T!"_

And them Mckay leverages some speed and strength and rams that Replicator into the one that'd been after you, and both of them into Oberoth.

The mechanical man gets dislodged from Woolsey's head- who gasps in shock- and Oberoth tumbles to the ground- stunned.

Mckay grabs Woolsy and hurries out of the cell and you use the opportunity to go hurricane mode on the damned machines.

Because Fucking Hell! REPLICATORS. It just had to be REPLICATORS!! Not just the bugs, but ENTIRELY. FUCKING- Human Form Replicators!!!

You RIP. THEM. TO. SHREDS.

You rip them into nothing but a fine silvery dust, and then reform outside the jail cell as Ronon slams the door shut and Mckay punches in a locking code for the force-field.

"You were right," Ronon chuckles. "The Negotiations _Were Short._ "

"Mister Woolsey? Are you okay?" Teyla asks, ignoring the compliment beyond a brief smile in his direction.

"What?" He asks, dazed. "But I thought we were... back at the SGC?"

"They're Replicators," Mckay tells him. "And they fucking tried to mind-read us with their freaking hand-jabby thing!"

"Let's get out of here before they reform," you say, eyeing the piles of dust already starting to try to reform.

"Agreed," Teyla nods.

And you five run for the Puddle Jumper Bay, following the familiar layout of Atlantis.

That's when you come across a squadron of the damned scorpion-bugs, menacing electrical arcs on their stinger tails.

Ronan doesn't spare them a chance to get close- he hurls bursts of deadly fire from his hands, blowing the things to silvery piles of dust.

Telya bursts each one with fire as you run past.

You quickly come across the room your gear got stored in- and the guards in the way. 

The Human Forms start to approach, and Mckay---

_**PVWAOOOOO!** _

\---He throws his hands out and launches a blue forcefield out instead of green.

The Human Forms dust instantly, and they show no signs of reforming.

"Huh!" Mckay stares at his hands. "I didn't think that'd work."

"What was that?" Teyla asks as you all enter the room and retrieve your gear.

"I Waveform'd them!" Mckay answers. "I wasn't sure it would work but force fields are just energy designed in certain ways, so I thought- 'Dust Replicators' and Bam! They dusted!" He's so happy. But...

"Better keep that one to yourself, Rodney," you say. "You're a walking Dakara Device!"

"I'm a-" all excitement drains from his face. "Oh. Shit. I'm a walking talking Dakara weapon."

"I'm definitely not mentioning it in my report," Woolsey says with a shake of his head- the first words he's really spoken since you escaped.

"Good," you say. "You're catching on."

And with that, your team heads on for the Jumper Bay. Mcaky flinging his force shields again and again whenever the way gets blocked- but rapidly tiring in the process.

"Oh, God. That's Energy Taxing," he whines, out of breath as you finally get to the stairs leading to the Jumper bay. 

"I was wondering where the balance trade off was," you remark. 

You get to the Jumper Bay, and there's Niam standing in your way.

"Wait!" He raises his hands. "Take me with you!"

...Fucking hell. Why is it always--??

"Why should we?" You ask.

"It's the Aggression hard coded into our systems by the Ancestors!" Niam says. "I want it gone. I don't want to be aggressive! I-!" he stalls. "OH. Oh No. They've discovered what I'm-"

And then he freezes in place, and then his movements become extremely stiff and-

_**PCH-BWAM!** _

Ronon blasts him in the chest, knocking him flat on his back.

"K...Kill me..." the Replicator requests. "Please. Before they- Reset my mind-"

Well, you can grant him that much atleast.

You nod to Mckay, and one more shield blast later, and there's a pile of silver dust on the ground. 

Surprisingly, though, the pile of silver dust erupts into light and vanishes.

"We'll talk about whatever the fuck THAT was later!" You decide.

...Nobody disagrees, and so you rush into the jumper bay, get into the nearest Jumper, and lower down into the Gate room, already dialing an address.

"Dial Atlantis!" Woolsey orders.

"Sure thing!" You dialed a Space Gate, actually, and hurtle through the gate just as the KAWOOSH subsidizes.

You emerge out into space moments later, rocket away from the gate, and carefully turn around to peer at the gate to ensure it's shut down...

Unsurprisingly, atleast five Human Form Replicators come tumbling out through the Gate, pinwheeling as gravity suddenly ceases to be, and they... they begin freezing up in place as the cold hard vaccum of space gets to them.

"...Why didn't we go straight to Atlantis?" Woolsey asks.

"Because I didn't trust them to not follow us," you say. "And look at that. They did."

"Well, atleast we'll have some to study if we need it," Mckay says.

"Yeah," you say. "But first things first- Woolsey," you turn to him. "What did they make you see?"

"...We escaped to Atlantis, and then the Wraith Showed up. Over Twenty Hiveships. They attacked the city, like they knew we were there. You had to initiate the Self destruct because they took out the shield generators while we were cloaked." Woolsey swallows. "I think I gave them Atlantis' and Earth's gate addresses."

"Then we've got to get the City up and in the air ASAP," you say, watching as the spacegate finally shuts down. 

You dial old Athos to ditch the Jumper on incase of tracking devices, and then from there, you head back to Atlantis.

* * *

 

Your name is Mikari Aiikho, and you frown at the report AR-1 just gave.

Well. The report Teyla and Ronon just gave. John and Rodney went to the Stardrive core room and began impressing upon the importance of getting the Stardrive properly online again.

Woolsey... 

Woolsey's kept silent the entire time, nursing one hell of a hangover headache from the Replicator intrusion into his mind.

To think that they could get so much from just a few moments of contact...

"Alright, Telya, Ronon, thanks," you say. "You're dismissed."

They leave.

"Now then, Richard..." you look at him. "How are we going to correct this?"

He doesn't reply, just sort of staring ahead, blankly.

"Richard Woolsey! Snap out of it!" You exclaim, and he jerks his head, suddenly as if jolted awake.

"I- I'm sorry, Miss Aiikho. But I can't believe how foolish I was. I... I'd harbored some small hope as the day went on that this would be my redeeming moment and I'd be allowed back to Earth," he says. "...I failed in so many ways. I let my ego get the best of me and..." he shakes his head, slowly, tiredly. "I let them into my mind. I have a headache and I fear that I've compromised the safety of this facility."

"That's why we'll be moving to a new world as soon as we can," you say. You've already made the call. M12-578. An uninhabited water planet without even a Stargate on it, or a Spacegate nearby- and infact, it was on the edge of the Galaxy itself.

As far as the Wraith or the Asuran Replicators would be concerned- a total unknown.

It was one of a hand full of off-the-grid planets considered for the start of the new Gate Bridge project, but had been rejected for a lack of suitable landmasses to place a Gate on.

Well, Putting Atlantis there solves that problem handily.

You get up from your desk, circle around, and put a hand on his shoulder, and say, "Go get some sleep, Richard. You've had a long day."

"Thanks," he nods. "I think I need it."

And thus, he goes to leave, pausing only to allow Argo to enter the room.

"Well?" You ask.

"Keiko thinks she's got the Stardrive almost ready to go," Argo answers. "She said she was hoping for another few days of actual testing to get it operational, but...  she thinks that if everyone on the project pushes, we can be taking off for space within the next few hours."

"Good," you say. 

"Where are we going, if I might ask?" Argo asks. "I don't think Keiko even knows yet."

"It's confidential," you say. "I'm only going to tell you to tell Keiko." You lean in close, and whisper into their ear, "M12-578."

Argo nods. "Got it." And then they leave to relay the information.

Right.

You nod, then head to your apartment. 

You've got a weapons acquisition form to retrieve. Anti Replicator Guns are going to be a must for the months ahead.

...But then what? You'll inform Alternia and Earth, obviously, but...

But then what do you do about this?

If they were made by the Ancients, then they've had thousands of years to spread out and conquer... why wait? Why stay on one planet? And why would the Ancients hide this knowledge?

...You'll send someone to ask the Ganos Hologram on LOPAN.

Then, there's Mckay's shield powers to consider.

Of COURSE he'd find a way to retune the shields he was able to generate to serve as a Replicator Disruption Wave. It's just as fitting of an expression of his abilities as John's ability to turn into the wind is an extension of his ability to control the wind.

But that modulate-able factor also means that he could conceivably shift that to turn anybody he wanted to into dust, if he were so inclined... hell, it could conceivably be turned upon himself...

Then, there's the Dusted Replicator that appeared to ASCEND to consider out of all of this.

What do you do about THAT?

...Nothing. Instead- First and foremost- all non essential personnel are going to be evacuated. You decide that now.

* * *

 

Several hours later, the city of Atlantis had evacuated most of its population off to the Alpha site once more...

And, if Mikari's musings were anything to go by, that even might be relocated again sooner rather than later, if the Athosians were willing.

Your name is Argo Lalonde, and if there's one thing Replicators getting inside someone's head is good for, it's a good shakeup of security. Get the dust out of the gears and shake loose the tarps. Uproot and relocate.

Too much was at stake with things as it was. 

Still, you're here despite being told to evacuate. You consider yourself ESSENTIAL PERSONELLE. Jade took Liz to the Alpha Site, and AR-1 and AR-2 are pretty much the only people still here... atleast, that you're aware of.

It's entirely possible some people decided to stay regardless. For example, you don't think you saw Woolsey go through the gate. It's entirely possible he's slept through the announcements.

Still... you have a crazy idea that you want to test out.

"Hey, Ronon?" You ask.

"Yeah?" He asks in turn, eyeing you.

"So, about your fancy rift-granted blaster powers," you begin. "What would you say to the idea of a scale experiment if it comes down to a fight?"

"What kind of experiment are we talking about here?" Ronon asks.

"Well, I'm worried that we might not take off in time and we might have to fight if the Asurans sent some ship after us," you say. "If it comes to a firefight between cities... well. I'm curious to see what counts for your powers as a 'weapon' or not."

Ronon raises an eyebrow. "...Are you asking me if I think I can use the city as an empty gun?"

"Sort of? Basically. It's just a thought I had." You admit.

Ronon smirks. "Well. I think it'd be a pretty fun idea to try, at any rate."

Alas, Mikari tells you you're not going to get a chance to see it. You and her are relocating to the Alpha Site, along with Teyla. 

"Awwwh! Come on, Mikari! Why??" you ask.

"Because you and I are not essential to this operation," Mikari says. "I trust everyone else to get this job done without oversight. And beyond that- as far as leadership goes, we're ensuring that we're nowhere near this city in case it gets destroyed."

...That's a thought you don't really want to think about. So you make sure to give John a kiss, and wish him good luck, before going to rejoin Jade and Lizzy off world.

* * *

 

It had taken seven hours to get the star drives online again... but, you are Keiko Ayano, and you think you've got it down.

You make your way for the teleporters, and head to the control room. 

"Alright, everyone. We're as ready for a test flight as we can be," you report when you arrive. "ZPM's are at full, the Stardrive is reading green... we should be clear for take off."

"Alright, Colonel Sheppard, we're clear for startup," Mckay radios down to the chair room as you take your seat next to Mallek and Tyzias, monitoring long range and other systems from here...

 _"Roger that, starting boot up sequence..."_ John reports. _"Raising Shield---" **SKREEEEEEH!** "---Starting Stardrives..."_ The inertial dampeners come online, the City shudders as its engines kick over-- _"And Lifting off."_ \-- and then gravity lurches as you feel a subtle motion change.

You glance out the window... and you watch as the Ocean lifts away.

Upwards, upwards, upwards...

"Hyperspace window contact!" Mallek reports. "It's reading as a vessel the same size and shape of Atlantis."

"Well, I guess the bugs sent someone to squash us after all," Tyzias gripes, then radios, "Daraya, Ronon, man the weapons consoles. Be ready to light it up. John, focus on getting us out of enemy fire and clear for hyperspace travel."

On that queue, you punch in the coordinates for M12-578. 

"They're launching drones!" Mallek reports.

* * *

 

You are now Daraya Jonjet, you look to Ronon, and he places his hands on the very large conduit cable leading from console infront of you to the mechanism that powers on and launches the drones.

He might not have taken to The ATA Gene, but you sure as hell did, and together... His hands glowing red and your eyes glowing with DETERMINATION.

You place your hands on the console as well, and reply- "Returning Fire!"

* * *

 

From the vast outside perspective, Atlantis ascended to meet its Descending twin- the later launching a stream of golden drones down to intercept...

And Atlantis launched a salvo of crimson glowing drones twice as large as that first flurry to intercept.

The Asuran city's drones were obliterated, and the remaining drones blasted against the enemy city's shields, rupturing them with explosive ease.

Through Holes made by their predecessors, the remaining crimson drones smashed through into the Enemy City, smashing through its central control spire and several critical pieces of supporting structure.

The enemy Atlantis exploded- and through its remains, Atlantis itself flew through, emerging like a phoenix from the ashes, opening a Hyperspace window, and absconding into the realms beyond.

And then the trio of FULLY CHARGED ZPMs within the Asuran City ruptured- and their contained subspace exploded outwards, overtaking the planet Lantea, and practically overwriting the entire solar system with a layer of space-time that had not existed there normally.

* * *

 

Ronon collapsed to the floor, and you rush over to check on him. "Hey! Ronon! Are you okay?"

He grunts an affirmative- and mumbles something about being extremely hungry.

Well, it's fortunate you escaped to Hyperspace, because you don't think he had the energy in him for another attack like that.

"Alright, let's get you some food then," you say, patting him on the shoulder, and trying to heft him up- trying and really easily succeding. 

Geeze, you don't even want to know how many calories he burned doing that empowerment burst just then.

* * *

You are Rodney Mckay, and you exhale in relief as Atlantis's sensors pick up the explosion of subspace from the ZPMs onboard the Asuran City.

"Well, that's just fantastic," you say. "Three ZPM's worth of subspace just overwrote the entire Lantean system."

"...Guess we should be glad we got out of there when we did," Tyzias says.

"Yeah, that's-" You stop as an alarm sounds.

"What's that?" Mallek asks.

"Oh- no! Nononono!" You furiously tab at the displays... "Oh Fuck us! We need to drop out of Hyperspace immediately and change course!"

"What?" Keiko asks. "Why?!"

"Because something in Atlantis just started broadcasting a subspace signal on Wraith Frequencies announcing our location to the nearest Wraith hiveships!"

Silence for a moment.

"FUCK!" Keiko radios- "John! Drop us out of Hyperspace! I'm changing course to take us in the next direction completely opposite from our real destination!"

You immediately start tracking down where in Atlantis the signal is broadcasting from...

"...Crew quarters?" You stare. "Mallek, come with me. We're going to find and disarm whatever's broadcasting our position."

"Right," Mallek nods, and he follows you as you decaptcha a scanner and take the transporter to crew quarters.

It doesn't take too long before you find the room, and a sinking feeling rises in your gut.

It's Woolsey's quarters.

You and Mallek barge into the room, and find the man slumbering on his bed... and also broadcasting the signal.

Specifically, the scanner reads that the signal is being beamed out directly from Woolsey's Skull from a series of nanomachines that were clearly left there when you rammed the Replicator out of his head.

This... This is your fault.

_Oh dear God, this is your fault._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter notes:  
> WOW. I made so many typos this chapter its not even funny. If you spot any, well... they slipped through my grasp @_@;;;  
> Other than that. WOW. What a chapter, huh?? A bit more frantic and heavy paced than the canon episode introducing these Pegasus Replicators, huh? 
> 
> Woolsey took the place of Canon!Weir in terms of getting nanite infected, and going dark... And things *REALLY* Escalated from there. Atlantis takes flight! FINALLY! Hahah! ...This isn't the first time or the last. 
> 
> Next chapter, next Monday, the thrilling conclusion to this two parter~! Also next week: A murder, Todd the Wraith, and a Planned Artwork piece! After that? Hrm. Not quite sure yet. Gonna do the artwork piece first, tbh. 
> 
> Reader Question: What do you think of the idea of scorpion themed Replicators? A little bit more menacing than the usual spider-bugs, given the sparking welding tool, in my opinion. Not made of blocks though. Fully independent evolution... in three different galaxies! Wow. I swear, it's like SOMEONE thinks the Replicators are the best enemies around, or something?? I mean... wow.


	21. SGA:03X06: What The Cat Dragged In (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Conclusion. Atlantis is fleeing from the Replicators and the Wraith alike. What ever are AR-1 and AR-2 to do?

**EARTH DATE: MAY 18TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/26/0005.**  
  
Your name is Keiko Ayano, and as John brings the city out of Hyperspace, you start reprogramming for new coordinates. Anywhere that isn't your actual destination that Mikari gave you and you alone.  
  
As you're hurriedly punching in the gate coordinates for a planet far on the other side of Pegasus, a brief alarm sounds.  
  
What now?

You glance at the screen that alerted you and- 

"Oh For Crying Out Loud!" you grouch as you see the security feed in question come up. 

"What is it?" Tyzias asks.

Some redheaded woman just linked into Atlantis' Book Room, and is pressing the buzzer to try and get someone to unlock the door.

Of COURSE someone would link through during the very brief window of opportunity presented by you stopping your hyperspace journey.

You grab for the Radio, and say, "Sorry, we're in a bit of a situation right now. Can you please link back to where-ever you came from and wait a few hours? Or days?"

The red haired woman seems surprised, her blue eyes blink, then replies aloud- _"Um, I'm Doctor Asuka Shikinami. I was asked by Doctor Beckett and Doctor Fraiser to consult with a Retro Virus? This was my scheduled time to come through. Did... I misunderstand something?"_

Shikinami? You blink. You think you heard something about that. 

"Just a moment," you say, muting the first frequency. "Do you know anything, Tyzias?"

She shrugs.

You change radio frequencies. "John? We have a problem."

 _"What kind of problem?"_ John radios back.

"Do you remember Argo or Mikari mentioning anything about an Asuka Shikinami coming to Atlantis?" You ask.

 _"Asuka Shikinami?"_ he pauses. _"As in Doctor Asuka_ LANGLEY _Shikinami?"_

"Let me check," you switch channels again. "Um, to clarify. Are you Asuka Langley Shikinami?"

 _"Yes, that's me,"_ the woman on screen nods.

"Just a moment." You switch back again. "Yeah, that's her."

 _"Yeah, Argo mentioned something about that a couple nights ago. Shit- don't tell me she linked through while we stopped?"_ John asks, sounding annoyed.

"She did," you confirm.

 _"Shit. That's-"_ John is interrupted as Mckay radios:

_"We have a problem. Everyone currently not busy flying the city needs to suit up in isolation gear and report to medical."_

Daraya replies, _"Repeat that, Mckay?"_

 _"You heard me the first time, Jonjet,"_ Mckay says. _"Suit up asap and report to medical."_

 _"I'll just stay in the pilots chair then?"_ John asks.

You look to Tyzias, and she nods, going to leave.

"Yes, do that," Tyzias says. "Keiko, stay and keep an eye on things. I'll go see what this is about."

You nod in turn. "Got it.”

 _"Excuse me? What was that?"_ Your uninvited (Well, technically invited) guest asks from the Book room. _"Is there a Medical Emergency?"_

John says, _"Keiko, tell her to sit tight for the moment. We might need her help if there's a medical emergency."_

"Fine," you agree, then switch channels. "Doctor Shikinami? We're going to have to ask you to sit tight for the moment. I'm not exactly in the loop myself right now. I'll get back to you."

_"Ah, alright. I'\ll wait for a bit."_

You finish your reprogramming, and, Course reset, you then radio John, “John, jump to Hyperspace now.”

* * *

 

**O < \--- [_STARGATE: ATLANTIS_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0) \--- >O**

* * *

 

 _"We have a problem."_ Your radio buzzes. _"Everyone currently not busy flying the city needs to suit up in isolation gear and report to medical."_  
  
Your name is Daraya Jonjet, and you tab the radio. "Repeat that, Mckay?"  
  
_"You heard me the first time, Jonjet,"_ Mckay says. _"Suit up asap and report to medical."_  
  
_"I'll just stay in the pilots chair then?"_ John asks.  
  
_"Yes, do that,"_ Tyzias says. _"Keiko, stay and keep an eye on things. I'll go see what this is about."_

You look to Ronon, who picks up the large tray of food you'd reheated from the cafeteria fridge, and captchalogues most of it, save for a sandwich that he continues to eat as you head for the place where the isolation suits are kept on this floor.

You suit up, and head to medical.

You find that Mckay and Mallek have set up an isolation chamber, and are also wearing full iso suits- save for the helmets. Tyzias arrives soon after-

"What's going on?" she asks, peering into the Isolation chamber. "Wait. Is that Woolsey?"

"Yes," Mckay says, "And he's broadcasting our location to the Wraith thanks to the Nanites the Replicators left inside his body when I shoved it out of him. I don't think any of us realized it but I must have broken off atleast four fingers worth of nannites off of Oberoth's hand when I rammed him."

"And with how fast you guys shredded them..." You realize.

"We never noticed," Mckay shakes his head. "The problem is the nannites are spreading at an incredible rate through his body, and overwhelming his brain. We have to figure out how to stop this and fast before we have a Replicator-Woolsey trying to kill us."

"Not only that," Mallek says. "We have to stop the nannites from broadcasting our location to the Wraith somehow, before we can even dare try to land where we wanted to."

"But before we even do anything else I need to scan to make sure the rest of us aren't infected," Mckay says. "Once I've cleared us, I'll need someone to go check on Sheppard and Ayano. We need to make sure this is contained to Woolsey before we do anything."

"Why can't we just dust-blast them like you did back on Asuras?" Ronon asked.

"Would you *rather* I turn Richard Woolsey to a pile of dust? Because at the rate those machines are spreading that's exactly what would happen to him," Mckay counters, angry and a little bit more upset than you'd expected.

"I wouldn't mind him, but if it's happening to the rest of us..." Ronon grunted. "Fair point."

"Thank you, Conan," Mckay then holds up a scanner. "Now. Scanning time."

He runs over all of you, and he sighs in relief. "Okay, it looks like out of all of us in this room, only Woolsey's infected. Mallek," He hands the scanner over. "Go check on Ayano. Daraya-" he hands you another. "Go check on Sheppard."

You hurry to the Chair room, taking the teleporter shortcuts, and arrive quickly enough.

"What's going on?" John asks as you arrive, glancing over at you from the chair.

"Woolsey's infected by Replicator Dust," you say. "I'm here to check and make sure you aren't too." You get the scanner out and run it up and down along his body...

"Well I should hope not!" John remarks. "I was a tornado when I shredded those Replicators! If I got anything inside me..."

The Scanner beeps and flashes a green OK sign.

You sigh in relief. "Okay. You're clear."

"Good," John says, sighing in relief as well. "Now what do I do?"

"I'm going to seal the room and leave you an isolation suit," you say, decaptchaloging said suit. "Next time we drop out of hyperspace, suit up, and we'll unseal the room."

"Okay." John frowns. "What about Woolsey?"

"Mckay and Tyzias are working on it," you say. "They're going to figure it out."

“I hope so,” John says.

* * *

 

You are now Rodney Mckay, furiously trying to figure out what to do but... damn it all. PEOPLE are not your realm of expertise!!

These nannites are pretty similar to the ‘virus’ from a while back... you guess you have the source of THAT, now, you suppose... but they’re too clustered together in Woolsey’s brain. if you Zap them with an EMP, it might just flat out fry his brain in the process. Especailly without Shaper to flush the remains out of his system....

Damn it.

This is all your fault.

“Hey, Mckay,” Tyzias says suddenly, jarring you out of your thoughts. “I think we could use an extra set of hands. A Professional with this kind of virus thing.”

“It’s a nanomachine virus,” you say. “How more professional than us can we get at this moment without making a pitstop to grab Beckett or Fraiser?”

“Maybe someone they called in to help with the Wraith Retro Virus?” Tyzias offers.

“What? That Sha... Shi...Sho...Sharknado girl? No. Wait...” You’re really bad with names at the moment. “The, uh...” you snap your fingers for the term. “Bio-engineer? Shikinami?”

“Doctor Shikinami, yes. She linked in while we were stopped to change course.”

“...Well that was lucky for her and us,” you say, trying not to think about what would have happened if she’d linked through while you were in motion. “Yes, definitely. We could use all the help we can get on this.”

And so Tyzias makes the call. And a few minutes later, Daraya and Ronon escort in a firey haired woman in an isolation suit.

“Hello,” She introduces herself. “Doctor Asuka Shikinami. What’s the patient going through?”

“Nanomachine virus is stuck inside his head and broadcasting our location to the Wraith. Hence, we have to deal with it if we’re ever going to land,” you explain.

“Alright, let’s get to work then so I can get to work on what I was brought in to help with,” Shikinami says, placing her hands on her hips. “Let me see what you have so far.”

* * *

 

You are Mallek Adalov, and you check in on Keiko, now wearing an Isolation suit of her own.

“Hey, Keiko, how’s it going?” You ask.

“We’ve got Wraith Hiveships trailing us now,” Keiko says. “We picked up about two, so far. We could maybe pull off one, maybe two course changes before they actually catch up with us, though.”

“Already?” You ask.

“’Already’? It’s been almost two hours, Mallek! We’re lucky it hasn’t been more!” Keiko shakes her head. “God, I just... I wish things hadn’t turned out this way.”

You place a hand on her shoulder. “We’ll make it through this,” you say.

“I know, I just... I wish I had some crazy, wacky zany solution to save the day,” Keiko says. “That’s usually someone else’s job, though, and the people who usually DO that are working on the other problem we have right now!”

You consider for a moment. Then, an idea surfaces.

“If you need crazy... Here’s a crazy thought,” you say. “Why don’t we use one of our course changes to point us at the Replicator’s homeworld?”

“...Why would we do that?” Keiko asks. “We’d just be stepping foot in their front door and begging to be blasted to pieces.”

“And dragging the Wraith along with us,” you point out.

Keiko stares out at the Stargate for a moment, and then whispers, “Oh, Mallek. It’s perfect.”

* * *

 

Your name is Ronon Dex, and you sit in the cafeteria, eating to regain your strength.

That energy blast shot you empowered really took it out of you. Good to know you could do something like that and an entire city counts, in that regard, but...

You really don’t want to do that again.

Still. Life is what it is.

As of half an hour ago, Atlantis made a prolonged stop in Hyperspace to allow Wraith to get a lock on you and come chase after you.

It’s a crazy plan. A plan Sheppard okayed as soon as he heard it.

If the Replicators want the Wrath to track Atlantis? You’ll give them the Wraith tracking Atlantis. And you’ll take them straight to the Replicator’s front door.The machines are going to be pissed when they realize their plan’s backfired and you’ve brought Wraith to their secret little planet.

If you’re lucky, it’ll take out a couple Wraith Hiveships and deal some damage to the Replicators too.

As of that brief stop half an hour ago? You now have about six VERY curious Wraith Hiveships trailing after you.

You chew on a ham and cheese sandwich, and muse on the irony.

For a bunch of machines, they sure didn’t think this course of action through.

* * *

 

 _“Sheppard- I think we’ve got a solution,”_ Mckay’s radio transmission jolts you out of the nearly asleep medatative stance you’d fallen into.

You are John Sheppard, and you reply with, “Alright, what’s the plan?”

_“We’ve analyzed the Replicator Base Code through the nannites within Woolsey, and I’ve found a directive to directly attack the Wraith Genetic Sequence where-ever it may show up. Doctor Shikinami suggested that if we implant a small sample of Wraith tisssue- no bigger than a small, benign tumor- inside Woolsey, we can trick the Nannites to leaving his brain alone and give us a chance to EMP them without causing him catastrophic prolonged harm.”_

“Well, that’s dangerous, but what do you all think?” You ask.

 _“I think we should go for it, John,”_ Tyzias says. _“Mallek agrees with me too.”_

 _“I agree as well,”_ Mckay says. _“We’re reaching the point of no return soon. Whatever we have to do, we have to do it before there are more nanomachines than we can reasonably distract.”_

“Then go for it,” you say. “How long will it take?” You ask.

 _“Five, maybe ten minutes?”_ Mckay answers.

“We’re arriving at Asuras in fifteen or less,” you frown, looking at the distance timer. “Tyzias, Mallek, can you replicate the tracking signal and keep it going until we reach our destination?”

 _“Absolutely,”_ Mallek answers. _“Shouldn’t be hard at all.”_

“Good,” you say. “Get on it. Let’s make these Replicators wish they never met us.”

* * *

 

The Machine King of Asuras, OBEROTH, stood on his mighty balcony overlooking the night sky covered metropolis that was his vast settlement.

The pieces of himself that he could still feel- the ones left within the man Richard Woolsey, suddenly converged on a node of Wraith Tissue suddenly introduced into the body, and within a minute, were all silenced.

Oberoth frowned as he lost all sense of tracking for the Lantean city. Oh well. At least the Wraith would have lost their means of following the city and would not arrive within this system.

He turned, and went into the control tower of his own City of that design.

“I have lost the City of Atlantis, and they have neutralized my gift to the bespectacled man,” he reports to the others there. “Are our sensors confirming that it is still traveling in our direction?”

“Yes,” Another Replicator nodded. “Our tracking sensors confirm Atlantis is still in route for us. Less than four minutes out.”

“Fools,” Oberoth shook his head. “Fools and Idiots. Do they truly think that sacrificing themselves against us is worth it?”

For some time, he stood there, contemplating the imminent destruction of Atlantis as they brought themselves once more to his grand city... to be destroyed.

It was very considerate of them, all things considered, to hasten their own demise in such a way.

“Incoming Transmission.”

“On screen,” Oberoth demanded, and a hologram opened up.

A girl stood on camera, gazing at him with crimson eyes. Wolf ears flexed atop her head...

Oberoth blinked. Since when did humans come with animal traits fixed to their genetic code?

 _“I am Keiko Ayano of Aincrad,”_ the girl began. _“I will ask you but one time- Do You Fear Death_?”

Oberoth considered the riddle. “I am Oberoth, and I do not fear Death for as long as one of my brethren remains alive, so too will I forever be reborn. You may have destroyed my form once in your last escape, but I am already reborn again. Even those of my brothers whose forms you have destroyed will soon be reborn as well.”

 _“I see,”_ ‘Keiko Ayano of Aincrad’ said, narrowing her eyes. _“Then will you release your hold on Richard Woolsey?”_

“You have already destroyed my machines,” Oberoth tells her. “He will awaken in time, if he survives your destruction.” Oberoth allowed himself to project an emotion- Smug Satisfaction. “It is really quite considerate of yourselves to bring your precious city of Atlantis to us. If you’d wished to bring the Wraith to our doorstep, you should have waited until you had arrived to destroy my machines within him. Your plan has failed.”

 _“Okay, Fine,”_ Keiko Ayano of Aincrad hung her head in defeat. _“That’s fair enough. We surrender. Guess that bluff didn’t pan out as well as we thought it would, huh?”_

“Naturally,” Oberoth said. “You really should have planned better.”

 _“Oh, yeah, we totally should have,”_ Keiko Ayano of Aincrad says, nodding solemnly...

“Hyperspace Contact. Atlantis.”

Oberoth Smiled. “Your doom is upon you.”

 _“But you know? I could say both of those same things to you,”_ Keiko countered.

...Wait. Oberoth’s emotional responses suspended as he processed that statement, and his technician reported- “Hyperspace contact... Correction: Multiple Hyperspace Contacts. Eight Wraith Hiveships.”

 _“See... We thought of that beacon thing and planned ahead.”_ And then the girl on screen cracked a smile of Smug Satisfaction. _“You really should have stayed in your own little corner of the Galaxy, Oberoth. You never know what kind of mess you might bring back home, otherwise.”_

And then the communication went dry as the technician reported- “Atlantis has deposited a beacon... it’s transmitting on Wraith Frequencies.”

And then The City Of Atlantis escaped several bursts of Wraith Hive fire and jumped into Hyperspace once more.

The Wraith? They Remained, and turned their fire down to the massive amount of Ancient Settlements below them.

Oberoth roared in fury as fire bombarded his massive kingdom.

He really ought to have foreseen this turn of events.

* * *

 

“Well,” you are Tyzias Entykk, and you crack a smile as Atlantis’ long range sensors read the utter destruction being rained down on the Replicators. “That ought to keep them busy for a while.”

“Oh, definitely,” Keiko laughed. “Very much definitely so.”

“And you know, if the Wraith did happen to get the message out that Atlantis was still around,” Daraya smirks, “at this point, they might just think it was a Replicator trap to lure them in to their own doom.”

“Gotta love being able to cover our tracks,” you laugh.

“John,” Keiko radios, “once we’re out of scanning range, drop us out of Hyperspace and I’ll change course again. No sense giving them any means of tracking us based on trajectory, after all.”

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: MAY 19TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 11/27/0005.**

With the full power of three ZPMs, Atlantis emerged from Hyperspace, and began its descent towards M12-578- a water based moon hovering in orbit next to a large, dry, crumbling planet and a nearby neighbor of a large green, forest covered moon.

Situated so near to the edge of the Galaxy as it was, M12-578 was able to see the distant rift of space-time between Milky Way and Alternia.

It was quite the sight to behold as Atlantis moved across in frame, and then began its descent towards the water surface below.

You are John Sheppard, and you’re a bit jealous, considering that you’re not looking at it with your own eyes, and instead observing it through the City’s sensors. 

Oh well, you’ll get plenty of times to see it with a Jumper flight or two later.

 _“Huh, sensors are picking up a couple of small islands on the far side of the moon,”_ Mckay reports over radio. _“We should probably avoid landing anywhere near those, Sheppard. They weren’t there the last time we went through here and I’m reading heavy signs of volcanic activity.”_

“Got it,” You say, making sure to well avoid that area as you descend through the atmosphere. “We might not want to stay here for too long, then,” you say. “We aren’t the biggest fans of Volcanoes, after all.”

 **“Yeah,”** Daraya says with a cough. _“Definitely not a fan.”_

 _“We’ll leave how long we stay up to Mikari,”_ Keiko says.  
  
_“Now, remember, Sheppard, we want to come down like a leaf kissing the water,”_ Mckay advises.

“I’ve trained in the simulations, Rodney,” you counter. “I can do this.”

And thus you do it.

You bring the City down onto the Ocean with little fanfare and not much fuss. There’s barely any wave displacement from the shields.

“See?” You say. “That wasn’t so bad.”

* * *

 

You are now Mikari Aiikho, and a few hours later, Altantis’ population has relocated back to the city- a day later than expected, but given the report that you’ve been given from AR-1 and AR-2, perfectly understandable.

Richard Woolsey awoke with a massive headache as Kanaya flushed his system of Nanites, reporting of having had a bizzare dream where the Stargate Program wasn’t real, and the Alternians were all human.

Needless to say, he was being reprimanded back to Earth for a full medical and psychological evaluation.

You look out your office window at the Gate room floor to see John reuniting with Jade and Argo- with little Liz held firmly in Argo’s arms, reaching up with grabby hands for John’s hair.

It’s adorable. It’s domestic. It’s slice of life.

...And to think that this almost didn’t happen because you didn’t insist Woolsey get checked out by medical.

You should have known something was off.

No, you could see it, but you ignored it. 

It almost cost you all everything.

And yet... despite all of that... Now things go back to normal. The Doctor you’d forgotten was coming over in all the hustle to relocate the city is here now and helping Beckett and Fraiser on the Retro Virus... Doctor Kae and Doctor Freeman are still working on the Anti-hiveship virus...

And everyone else goes back to work.

You know for sure that the Replicators are going to be pissed off after what your teams just pulled. They sent a ship to destroy you, so they brought eight times the Wraith Hiveships to destroy them.

Life moves on...

But what about when it doesn’t? What happens when it stops cold and ceases to be?

That nearly happened for Richard Woolsey- Twice. It very nearly could be the case that Eight Wraith Hiveships were destroyed, and who knows how many Replicators were destroyed, permanently or otherwise.

There’s no magic Dakara Device in this Galaxy. Not this time. No magic Vast Glub to reprogram and have it shatter millions of Replicators at once.

...And there’s no telling who put what into motion, even.

One day after the next. One foot in front of the other. You’ll move forwards.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah. They just pulled a Crazy Serenity. Dragging a fleet of curious Rea- Er. Wraith behind them towards the Alliiiiiiiiiii I MEAN Asuran's homeplanet. 
> 
> That's going to make them a few friends, isn't it?


	22. Artwork: Crate Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Argo, Jade, and John have a date with a crate of supplies that needs opening. And then also an actual date later in the Atlantis Cafeteria. Y'know how it goes.

"You seem pretty happy for a bog standard cargo shipment," Argo observed as Jade skipped down a step.

"Of course I am~! I ordered a packet of strawberry seeds!" Jade answered, and then sang, "Gonna grow some Straw~berries~! Straw~berries~!"

"As long as the pots and soil came too, that is," John remarked, twirling the crate opening hammer. "Can't grow strawberries without soil."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Had a new pose reference figure I was trying out with Argo. Apologies if they look a little funky because of it.
> 
> John went through *MULTIPLE* Revisions during this. God Damn it John, why are you so tricky to draw? :/ I similarly apologize if he looks funky in any way. He just refused to come out right. *SIGHS*
> 
> Due to the revisions and a couple of layer snafus with John, I'm unable to provide multiple versions without Glasses or Jackets this time. Which is a shame, as I was really happy with how Argo's shirt turned out beneath that vest. 
> 
> Jade's dress is inspired by her canonical Dead Shuffle Dress, though it took a bit more of a green hue and much less of an anime spiky skirt design.
> 
> Jades ears were tricky because I didn't want to just copy Argo's *Cat* ears. So I had to hunt up a bunch of Dogtier Jade's to compare and contrast to. That was surprisingly hard to do as a LOT of those Dogtier Jades really over-simplified the ears by a lot, or did them similarly to how i did Argo's ears. 
> 
> Minor Color Sharing Details- like the last group pic they all have some color referencing the other on them. Argo has a blue hairclip and green sandals. Jade has a blue hair scrunchie, orange socks and hair clips. John has green striped socks. The Red on his shirt is tied across to Argo's jacket and the red stripes on Jade's dress. John and Argo are also sharing in the Atlantis Uniform Blue-teal as well.
> 
> ...John also has a purple belt referencing Rose. It ended up covered up during revisions. But trust me, it's there. 
> 
> Argo's vest comes in the red hue of Atlantis' COMMAND BRANCH, John's jacket is in the grey of of Atlantis' MILITARY BRANCH. Jade, were she choosing to wear a jacket, would be wearing one with the colors of the SCIENCE BRANCH. But Jade is off duty today and didn't want to wear the jacket or the dress uniform and thus skipped it. 
> 
> Yes, that is an actual Ancient text font in the background and on the stairs. It's mostly just me spewing a random train of thought to make some fancy background details and, while it could be translated if I posted a version of this that's just the background, It's not really worth it. First wall behind Argo is just me thanking the friend who helped me while I was revisioning John a bunch a times. The second one is just saying I made an Evangelion reference in the window art because I happened to be listening to the Evangelion OP theme on my MP3 player at the time I was working on that section. While yes, I have also referenced Asuka in a recent chapter, that... really was just a bit of circumstantial happenstance. I'd written those references in before I remembered that Evangelion dropped on Netflix last Friday.
> 
> ...That's a topic I'm not touching here btw. 
> 
> Stair Text is simple, from top to bottom:  
> "Some Body Once" (told me that memeing in Ancient text is fun)  
> "Yeesha was here URU is the best"  
> "OWO" (leg) "(C) Calum Traveler John Jade Argo OT3"  
> "Cut off @" (The edge of the screen)
> 
> Wings and tails make for odd clothing designs, as I discovered back when I was designing for my Mystryal novels (Which are another topic I'm not getting into here). Jade's dress is designed to work considering her tail, and Argo's shirt and Vest are designed to allow their wings through the back. Also, that's part of why it's a vest and not a full on jacket they're wearing. Easier to manufacture so that you can *add* sleeves later if need be. Most people on Atlantis who grew permanent wings have gotten these vests w/ the detachable/attachable sleeves now.
> 
> Yep, that is a stained glass rendition of the central spire, complete with Stargate. That... is completely predictable, all things considered. Easier to draw, too, than putting in any of the actual city landscape.


	23. ALT:10X03: Hunting Old Clocks in the Spring Towers.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Like Icarus flew too close to the sun... A man dies.

**EARTH DATE: MAY 19TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 11/27/0005.**  
  
A knock came to the apartment door.

"Coming!"

Footsteps pounded on the tile, a chain was slid, and a bolt unlocked. Click, went the knob, and twist, creak, the door opened.

"Hi, I was-" Victoria Bradley stopped. "Um. Hello? You're not who I was expecting."

Your name is Polypa Goezee, and you smile, friendly like, as you tip the blue hat you're wearing as part of your current disguise. "Yeah, no, I'd imagine not. Name's Sam. And, cliche as it may sound, you'll want to come with me if you want to live."

"Huh?" Victoria blinks. "Terminator? Are you selling something?" She moves to close the door. "Or--?"

"Sorry bout this," And then Vriska shimmers into view behind her as her illusion drops, and _**PCH-ZYU!**_

A Zat Gun you pilfered ages ago fires off, stunning the woman, and causing her to collapse into your arms.

You quickly head inside, dragging her with you, before Vriska closes the door, and redoes the locks.

"Well, this just went up a few levels of insanity." Vriska says. "And also, why'd you change aliases again?"

"Misdirection, obviously," you say. "She's gonna spend some time with us, so I want her to have the wrong names."

"Whatever," Vriska rolls her eyes, and takes the woman as you quickly head to the bedroom of the small apartment. 

Victoria had just moved here from the last place she'd been staying at, hadn't even unpacked her suitcase yet. You captchalogue that, along with the boxes of belongings. 

You've got to make this look as much like a kidnapping as possible.

Luggage secured, you head over to the small balcony and Fire-escape Vriska had entered the house from. You head out first, Vriska hands you Victoria, and you begin to carry her down to your recently stolen car, while Vriska leaves a message behind for your Mark to discover.

"Albert. She's under OUR protection now. If you want to finish you job, your time is ticking to a close. We'll text you the location. Come alone. When the bell strikes four, you're done for. With Much Hate, your Very Platonic Secret Admirers, --Freelance"

It's a simple message- written on a post it that's to be pasted dead center on the refrigerator door- one easily removed and stolen. If the SGC gets involved, the actual pad of post-its that the message was written on is to be left in a nearby drawer, and if Cassandra's smart enough, she'll figure out to run a pencil over it to get the same message.

Vriska hops out of the fire-escape and starts climbing down to the ground level. You've just gotten Victoria secured with seatbelts and a zip tie, and are just 'decorating' her with a wide brimmed hat and a pair of gaudy sunglasses when Vriska joins you.

"Let's go," She whispers quickly. "I think I heard combat boots coming down the hallway."

"Got it," You start the car and drive out of the alleyway.

Albert Monroe really didn't waste any time, did he?

Missy got in contact with you last night- apparently there was a CD Delivered to Atlantis that contained a Gate Address that was home to a planet full of Human Form Replicators. You suddenly understood a bit about why Damara and Monroe would want such a thing, but the question remains...

Why even crash a giant City to GET said address in the first place? It didn't make any sense. Surely there were easier ways? Unless Damara was playing Monroe the entire time? Which would explain why she didn't even tip him off that you've been trailing him. 

If she never intended for him to get that address in the first place, along with whatever ELSE was on that CD, then...

You shake your head.

It doesn't matter.

You have a Job to finish.

* * *

 

**O) < \- [_STARGATE: ALTERNIA_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHTke_0BlD0) \- >(O**

* * *

 

Victoria Bradley woke up twenty minutes later- a bit longer than the standard recovery time for a first time zatting, you think, but it's workable.

"Wh..." She stirred awake. "What's going on? Where am I? Who are you people??"  
  
"Miss Bradley," you greet, "I'm Sam, this is my partner Max. We're Freelance Detectives, hired to get you to safety." Only about the words "Partner, "freelance," and "hired" are true, but she doesn't need to know that. "There's a very bad man after you." That part, however, is very true.

"...Oh god. The man who came after my real parents-?" Victoria pales. "What's his name?"

"Albert Monroe," Vriska says. "You might've heard of him. He's wormed his way onto the IOA council."

"Oh- Fuck! 'Albert'? He's a descendant of The Marquis, isn't he?" Victoria swore a series of curses that you're quite frankly surprised by.

"Wouldn't know about any genetics," you lie, "but that's a reasonable guess."

"Wh... where are we going?" Victoria asks. 

"A little place called _Casa Bonita_ ," Vriska answers. "It's got a lovely clock tower with a bell that's being decommissioned soon, so nobody really goes up there. Perfect place to stage a final confrontation."

"if Albert's as desperate as we believe he is," you add, "he's going to come. In person, to finish the job."

"What about the SGC?" Victoria asks.

"Their hands are tied with other problems Albert's caused them," you say entirely truthfully. "If they show up... they'll be there to clean up the mess."

"The mess??" Victoria stared on ahead, a shellshocked look on her face. "Y... you're not really detectives, are you?"

"Ah, you've got us," Vriska cracks a grin, reaching back to cut the zip ties. "We're more Freelance Police, wouldn't you say, 'Sam'?"

"You crack me up, Little Buddy," you counter with a similar grin. 

Really, the best part about using aliases is being able to make references like this.

* * *

 

A long drive later...

You arrive at the restaurant- _Casa Bonita,_ a Colorado local mexican food place with a Stage Show theme, a giant indoors waterfall, eyestrain lighting issues for days, and a fairly decent arcade. It's loud, it's obnoxious, and easy to get lost in. The perfect place, really.

The clock tower access is deep inside the place, so you have to go in the old fashioned way.

Victoria follows you inside. You three get in line, order food, and grab a tray as you wait in line.

This place is sort of insane, really. You really wouldn't have ever thought of using this place if Joey hadn't brought you and Mierfa here once a couple of weeks ago.

Your food is gotten, placed on three colorful trays, and you're lead out into the dining hall floor by a waitress to get a table in view of the shows they hold on varrying schedules. 

Today they're running them every fifteen minutes, adding to the chaos.

"This place is hurting my ears," Vriska bemoans as you get a table rather close to the giant waterfall.

"Sorry, what was that?" You joke. "I couldn't hear you over the sound of the roaring waterfall."

You eat your food in the relative peace of the show being performed.

Some cowboy chasing a man in a gorilla suit across the stage built into the waterfall- voices being broadcast through the loudspeakers hidden away in the place.

Spotlights illuminate the stage and the show, with everything else being barely lit at all for contrast.

It's a funky little show, you'll give it that much. The stage-guns make very real sounds, but otherwise are definitely blanks.

Cowboy gets "shot" by some rival guy who showed up to also chase the Gorilla suit guy, and he falls off the bridge dramatically into the pool of water below.

Of course, you can see him swimming for the rock wall and starting to free climb it shortly there after, but the stage lights are focused on the badguy and the poor Gorilla-suit now. 

Cowboy makes his heroic return, and the dastardly rival takes a plunge instead.

And just like that, show's over.

You get out your cellphone, and send a pre-made text, telling Albert Monroe your location.

"Let's go to the arcade," you say.

And so, you go upstairs to the moderately better lit arcade, and chill out at the skiiball games while you wait for the Mark to make his way here.

Vriska and Vicotira play a bit more legitimately than you do- aiming to gather tickets for the prize table. 

You just idle and pretend to throw balls whenever they do. If anyone were paying attention, they'd notice you have a full rack of nine balls left and not a one has been actually thrown.

And then Monroe shows up with a couple of disguised goons at his side. 

Lovely. They're even packing concealed firearms.

You throw your first ball of the day- bouncing it horribly off of the rim and into one of the two goons' guts.

He crumples, and you feign shock and surprise- "Oh! I'm SO SORRY!" You grab another Skiiball discretely. "I really should have better aim than that!"

The other goon goes for his gun- Albert sneers in victory.

You throw the other Skiiball and knock the goon's gun out of his hand with a loud crunch of bone being the unfortunate bystandard between metal and hard plastic.

He yells in pain, and Albert ducks as Vriska throws another of the balls you didn't use in the game. That happens to hit the first goon in the head as he tries to go for his own gun.

_**KLONK!** _

He falls down.

"Run!" you grab Victoria by the hand, and she doesn't need to be told twice. Needless to say, Albert grabs his gun next and starts firing, giving chase.

Nobody hears it- they think the next show has already started.

You and Vriska lead Victoria to the stage area, and you barge through the Employees Only Door onto the stage as Vriska illusions the person manning the controls into thinking its a legit show and turning on the lights.

Albert chases you through, and you begin a game of cat-and-mouse much like the last show's gorilla chase. Why they put clocktower access up here in the stage show area, you'll never know, but the audience cheers as Albert opens fire, trying to hit your bait- Victoria.

Vriska's illusions do the trick of making him miss. She's having him think she's a foot further to his right than she actually is. 

You hear someone yell in the audience as a shot goes wide.

"WH-! That's real! Someone call 911!" a shriek goes out.

Panic starts to ensue, but that's just about as much as you could hope for.

You finally find the clock tower access, kick the door open, and through it you, Victoria, and Vriska rush.

Albert Monroe gives chase.

You're gritting your teeth through the climb up higher and higher and higher...

This is all entirely too messy for your liking. This job isn't clean. It's nowhere near as precise as you'd like.

But... you have to make it flashy. Make it public. You have to, or else people will have their doubts. You have to make it known. 

A man with a gun chasing three women through a restaurant, shooting wildly into the audience thinking its a stage show? That's going to make local news, let alone the international news once they find out it's Albert Monroe. They'll hear it with his own words, you're sure of that much.

You three reach the top of the clocktower, and Virska begins setting her trap- making the floor look nothing like it actually is. Gaps appear where they shouldn't be, and all in all, makes it seem like you crossed a rickety wooden plank that's nowhere near as rotten in reality as it will seem. Meanwhile, you quietly decaptchalogue a tape recorder into your hand and hit record before shoving it into your jacket pocket.

Albert appears from the stairwell, huffing, puffing, glaring at you.

He takes aim with his gun and- Click. Clickclickclickclick!

Out of ammo.

He growls, tossing it to the ground, and pulls out a knife. "I don't know who the hell you two bitches are, but you've interfered with a very long game of family revenge. Let me kill Victoria Bradley, and I'll consider letting you live."

"Oh, geeze, no," Vriska laments, falsely. "Whatever shall we do. He's got a KNIFE which is ten times more terrifying than a GUN!"

"Why?" Victoria asks. "Why are you doing this to my family for!?"

"Cordelia Gallo murdered our ancestor!" Albert declares. "She murdered him in cold blood, and worse, she murdered our COUNTRY in a bloodbath of flames and destruction! The Marquis foresaw this as a possibility and left a contingency. His son ignored it, and so it fell to the next generation to see it through to its bitter end! I've hunted the Grey Wolf Spawn- the devil children he spawned and lost control of- out of revenge for the shame brought to the de Blois Family Name! For the SHAME brought about by our country's fall into the shadows! I! WILL! KILL! THEM! ALL!" He points the knife at Victoria. "You will be the first of the last, 'Dear' Victoria! And then your sister, her daughter, and their damned clones! They will die! Just like your parents! Just like THEIR parents!!"

"Okay," you raise your hands- decaptchaloguing a Zat into one hand, that Albert doesn't see because you've rehearsed with with Vriska. Her illusion extends to the Zat being invisible. "All I have to say to that is you're NUTS! Way more insane than most people I'm hired to take down!"

"HAHAHAH!" Albert laughs. "You? Take me down?? It's laughable that a girl your age can even think you have a chance at being my defeater! I've hunted grey wolves! I've hunted and I've killed! The smartest adversaries of man, and they FELL TO ME!" He roared, laughing all the way.

You take careful aim, lowering you hands somewhat. "C'mon. Maybe we can work things out? You don't have to kill anyone and maybe we can just..."

 _ **"NO!"**_ he points the knife at you. "You know too much, girls. You'll be collateral. Just as everyone else who has died along my many hunts. Nobody will bat an eye at those cursed by a Grey Wolf dying so violently of their claws!"

So, he's actually going to try killing you then.

"Okay," you say. "So much for negotiating a way where everybody lives," you say in mock disappointment. "I was really hoping nobody had to die today." Time stills.

You... were actually a little hopeful that he might surrender. Might not be that much of an asshole.

You were hoping he'd surrender and be nice despite everything that told you he wouldn't.

You gave him a chance to get out of this alive, and he didn't know he threw it away.

Now he's threatened to keep you from A: Finishing the Job, and B: Returning Home to your... to your FAMILY.

Family life has gotten to you, you realize. Just a bit. Made you soft, or rusted, just a little. Damn it all. But that bit of rust flakes right off in the heat of battle and you're a sharpened edge again. He's threatening your family now, indirectly, and you can't let that slide what so ever.

Maybe that's why didn't fire your Zat gun, and instead Captchalogued it again.

Maybe that's why you decided to ram the bastard as you ran across "thin air" to get at him while he wasn't even stunned. 

And Maybe that's why you grabbed his own damned knife while still in hand, and with a flicker of flames running along your arms, jammed the suddenly super heated blade up beneath his ribcage.

"GRKH-" he gasped as you backed away from him just enough to get some windup room and-

 _ **"ROT IN HELL!!!"**_ You kick him in the knife-stabbed-gut, and he stumbles backwards against the railing meant to keep people from falling and he tumbles.

And Oh.

Does he fall. Like Icarus without his wings, insides burning the whole way down.

You peer out over the railing, and watch as he hits the roof of a white backed Semi Trailer. It crumples on impact, and surprisingly, no red pools in the freshly made crevice. The flames sputter out, and all that's left is an empty shell gazing up at you with horror in his burnt out eyes.

Step Four Complete, if messily. You glance at the tattoos Rose had hidden, rising once more to the forefront against your skin along your arms. Green flames standout sharply, both artisticly and literally speaking. It takes a little force of will to make both the tattoos and the flames themselves fade back down.

You remember, long ago that you'd asked if Joey could make your body light up with flames along where the tattoos were. She didn't do it then, but it seems you've unlocked that ability yourself, now.

You're going to have to keep this one under wraps. That's way too flashy and and noticeable. It's identifiable as far as powers go, down right akin to a thumb print.

Time to get out of here.

You take out the tape recorder, stop its recording, and had it to Victoria. "Here," you say. "For the cops and SGC."

"But- you're not going to stay?" Victoria asks. 

"We'll keep an eye out, but we can't be caught up in this publicly," you answer, shaking your head. "As far as you're concerned? We were just helpful bystanders who got caught up in an assassination attempt against you." You hand her the captchacard full of her luggage, and say, "Maybe move somewhere with a bit better security than an easily open-able fire escape window?"

"I will, thanks." Victoria nods, taking the card and seamlessly adding it to her own deck. 

You nod to Vriska, and she cloaks you both from Victoria's sight at that point, making it seem as if you've both 'linked away' through a pair of Relto Boosk. She hangs around trying to see if you're still there, but gives up as the cops arrive.

You listen as she tells the tale exactly as it happened, not leaving anything out, and making the strange assumption that you two were hired as a last act of protection by her biological parents in the case of their demise. 

Good, that's a false lead for them to waste time on.

Once the SGC arrive- specifically, SG-1 arrives accompanied by a few marine squads- and Victoria is safely within their custody and protection, you and Vriska slip away and make use of the Relto Book Rose and Roxy had given you. You both link away, and travel one step further to the opened Neighborhood book.

You arrive in the quiet, abandoned neighborhood witgin D'ni, and find a place to sit and relax as a wind down.

The job is done.

But you don't feel like it's entirely finished, given Damara's involvement in all of this. 

Rose Lalonde links in five hours later. 

"Well," she says, peering at you both with flickering violet eyes. "That was certainly a violent end to Albert Monroe."

"I suppose it was, wasn't it?" Vriska asks. "Didn't think you had it in ya to ram him off the roof like that, Goezee."

"What can I say, Serket?" You shrug. "The moment he threatened my life, I just saw red."

"Naturally." Rose chuckles, and uses the Shaper Crystal to turn you both back to your normal appearances. 

It feels good to be back within your own skin, but... the Tattoos along your body give you pause now. You feel warm thinking about them, not just because of the flame of Kismesisitude they represent, or the Volcano's lava that burnt you... but because of the flames now residing within you.

You're incendiary.

"I have to say," Rose smiles. "As violent as it was, the job is done. My family is safe, thanks to you two. I've already heard that with Monroe's death, and that tape recording surfacing, the IOA is being thoroughly scrubbed for his involvement and corruption. If we're lucky, we'll go back to their reigning indifference and not their over-exhausting executive meddling."

"I'd say any time," Vriska- no, Ashler now, the job is done- says as she runs her hands over her face, ears, and horns to ensure everything is in place again. "But no. Actually. I really don't want to do any of that again."

"Same," you agree. "It's harder to do the job right when you have attachments." You look Rose in the eyes, and say, "But... I know that sometimes these things have to be done. If you ever need me, just ask. I'll do what I can."

"Though I doubt I'll need it, thanks," Rose nods. "Now. How about we get you two home to Diaspora again?"

A clothes change and a few Linking Books later, and... You take a deep breath of the familiar air, and take in the familiar sighs and sounds...

You're back in your lawnring, looking at your hive shared with Joey and Mierfa... and you can hear the TV running some cartoon for Toko, no doubt.

You step towards the hive's front door and fish out your keys. 

But, before you can open it, Joey opens the door, and smiles brightly at you.

"Well," she quips. "Look who the cat dragged in!"

You can't help it, you laugh. For all sorts of reasons, you laugh at that simplistic remark.

She gives you a hug, and says, "Welcome back, Poly."

"Thanks," you hug back. "Good to be back." You hug tightly. "We have a lot to talk about."

No more lies.

* * *

 

You are now Tegiri Kalbur, and you look at your Co-pilot/Moirail as she slinks into the cabin on the Diasporan lake with a tired look on her face.

She clicks on the lights to the cabin, and freezes upon seeing you sitting there.

"So," you summarize, "you and Polypa both go missing for almost a month, and not hours after some asshole in the IOA gets himself killed trying to assassinate three women, two unknowns, and one Victoria Bradley, you finally show back at the cabin you were supposed to be in days ago."

"...How long were you waiting there?" She asks.

"I got off training early two days ago, couldn't find you or Polypa anywhere..." You answer, looking her in her eyes. "Now I hear about all this and you're back? Do I even want to know about what happened?"

"You probably don't," Ashler answers, not even flinching as she slings off a bag of luggage to the floor. "But I can tell you if you want to know."

You sigh. "Just... tell me. You two didn't do anything that could get you in trouble, did you?" 

Ashler considers it, and then says with a glint in her eye that makes you think maybe you should switch back to using her old name again: "Nah. I think it was all pretty cut and dry self defense."

You sigh. "Well. I guess that's all I can ask for."

"Gee, thanks," she laughs.

* * *

 

You are now Damara Megido, and you frown disapprovingly as you catch sight of the news report on a TV Monitor. 

What a mess. 

Wasn't anything you could do to make this a better outcome, though. And besides, he got you what you needed already anyways, even if he hadn't gotten it to you yet. Lying liar who lies said you wouldn't get what you needed unless you got him his 'key to immortality'. Hah. Big woop. Immortality is vastly overrated.

It's all too easy to raid a storage warehouse with your abilities, after all.

And now, you have more parts to the puzzle... but you need some more time. Time to stall SG-1 in their search.

You make a call. "Hello? Is this Farrow-Marshal Aeronautics?  I would like to speak to Charlotte Mayfield, your Vice President. Please tell her it is a matter regarding a Codename of 'Qetesh.' .... Ah, Yes, I will hold."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Polypa's finally gotten the ability to set herself on fire on command... Not exactly something she's wishing kicked in at this point, though. 
> 
> Albert Monroe was a foolish man caught up in a cycle of revenge that everyone else would have rather left lie. Much as his namesake died in the flames of revenge, he died like Icarus, climbing too high up that clock tower and brushing too close to a sun that was all too eager to slay him.
> 
> Damara didn't care either way, she was going to get what she wanted from him.


	24. SG1:10X08: A Memento Derailed.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Vala heard you liked memes, so Vala makes a meme about a meme.

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw)

* * *

 

 **EARTH DATE: MAY 23RD, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 12/01/0005.**  
  
"I don't see why we have to eat out for," you are RIDER, and you glance around the very fancy 'ITALIAN' themed place that all of SG-1 is eating out at tonight. "We could just eat on base."

"Well, that's kind of the point," Mitchel says. "How often do any of us go out to eat somewhere like this?"

"Not... often?" Cassie winces.

"I think we order in more often than not, given how busy we are," Jude remarks.

"I for one am VERY happy for this near-equivalent to a date," Vala says. "Even if it's team focused rather than solo."

"It's not a date for any of us except Cassie and Jude, Vala," Jonas says, peering intently at his menu.

"Yeah, I know," Vala says. "Still, great ambiance." She smirks, and shifts her legs beneath the table, and you feel something nudge your leg.

"Wrong Person, Vala," you say.

"...Damn it," She huffs, and the foreign sensation on your limb goes away.

"Anyways," Mitchel coughs. "Point is. We're all having a nice night out, and celebrating the fact that the IOA's finally let up on us for a bit."

"Even if it took the mysterious death of one of their members after he tried assassinating Roxy's sister," Jude remarks coldly. "But sure. Let's go with that."

You spot some man at a payphone near the restrooms glancing at you all kinda creepily..

"Seriously, guys, I really think we should've just eaten at base. Or home. Going out like this just screams like we're begging for trouble," you say. "Maybe we should just call it."

"I think we'll be fine," Cassie says. "I don't have any vibes right now and-"

And then she stops on that front.

"...Shit," she whispers, glancing at you in concern. Everyone else does as well.

"Like I said, maybe we should Call. It." You stress. 

Mitchel glances into his glass of soda's reflection. "Ah, yep. We've got a creep by the payphones near the restrooms staring at us."

"So, uh," Jonas coughs. "Should we spring the trap and find out who's spying on us or just leave?"

"I vote we trip the trap," And with that Vala gets up, announcing, "I gotta use the restroom!"

And then she starts skipping over that way, seemingly not even paying attention to anything.

You watch as the creep at the phones follows Vala into the hallway, not noticing Cassandra getting up and-

"I'll go with her," Cassandra follows Vala. 

"Ah, hell," Jude mutters. "Fuck it. I gotta use the restroom too."

"Same," Mitchel agrees.

"Oh, yeah," Jonas nods.

"Yeah, why not," you say, and follow as well.

Needless to say the Creep who had a SYRINGE ready to jab into Vala's neck got a severe six way beat down and a Zat shot for his troubles. 

* * *

 

The get away driver sat in his car, tapping his fingers on the steering wheel as he waited for his cohort and fellow attempted kidnapper to exit with the Mal Doran woman and--

_Knock Knock._

He paused his tapping, and glanced at the window right next to him and stared into the grinning face of Cameron Mitchel of SG-1.

"Howdy," he greets. "Mind stepping out of the vehicle?"

The Get Away Driver slammed his foot off the breaks onto the gas and ran for the exit.

He failed to take his eyes off of Cameron Mitchel, however, and failed to notice that some poor unfortunate soul in a rather large pick up truck was backing up right at that moment.

_**SLAM!!! CRASH!!!** _

The Get Away Driver side-slammed the Pickup truck's bed, and his airbags deployed.

The Get Away Driver was very stunned from the sudden stop, and was moaning as the Pickup Truck's driver got out and started yelling at him for the damages to his

_**BRAND** _

_**NEW** _

_**TRUCK!** _

Mitchel winced as the poor get-away driver was yanked out of his vehicle and thrown to the ground by the very angry pickup truck driver. "Yeeah, I probably should stop this before it escalates."

* * *

 

Tied up in the kitchen of the restaurant, the two attempted kidnappers found themselves being stared down by the two very unamused women of SG-1.

"So," Vala began towards the man who had the needle. "A knockout drug needle? Couldn't even get me a classic Chloroform soaked Rag?? I'm not sure whether I should be offended at the fact you thought so low of me to not go for the good stuff, or the fact you thought you could kidnap me in the first place!" She brandished a very large meat cleaver. "Now. Could you tell me why someone wanted to kidnap me, or do I have to start removing limbs?"

"Now, I'm only going to offer you this once," Cassandra leaned over a table covered in cut up meats to glare at the battered get-away driver. "Tell me who hired you, and why you just tried to kidnap our friend, and I might consider Not leaving you at the tender mercies of the driver whose car you just assaulted in your botched get-away attempt and might actually let you get medical assistance for that bruised ego of yours."

Needless to say, one of the two men sang like a canary.

* * *

 

A third man managed to get back to his base of operations- a TRUST FACILITY hidden in an old abandoned warehouse. He huffed and puffed after having run all that way from the restaurant instead of driving.

Needless to say, the Goa'uld woman by the name of Athena was not pleased to learn that the kidnapping had been botched that badly.

She was about to order the scuttling of her base when everything within the warehouse was beamed up via Asgard tech into one of the Odyssey's storage bays.

SG-1 stood guard at the only entrance to the room- each armed with Zats.

"Hey, so... I heard you liked kidnappings, so we kidnapped you Kidnappers," Vala grinned at the Goa'uld before shooting her with her own Zat.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: MAY 24TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 12/02/0005.**

Your name is Hank Landry, and you stare at the after action report folder sitting on the table infront of you.

"So... let me get this straight," you stare up at SG-1, standing infront of you looking all proud. "All in one night off, you managed to foil a Goa'uld run Trust kidnapping attempt designed to drag the information stored in Vala's brain from the time she served as a Goa'uld host regarding a fancy Ancient Tablet that supposedly serves as a treasure map to a vast, grand, Ancient Treasure?"

"Uh, Yes, Sir," Mitchel nods. "We did."

"Yep," Cassandra nods. "That about sums it all up." 

"And we managed to get back in time to order our meals and have a good dinner, too," Vala says. "Though, the meatballs on that spaghetti were horribly bland! I would NOT recommend it, Sir. Not one bit."

"Atleast we didn't get kicked out," Jonas shrugs. "And we captured one of the few non-Ba'al Goa'uld plants within the Trust."

"Even if she did turn out to be someone we tried talking to back when we were dealing with that exploding building from a few months back," Jude says. "I wonder if she was implanted back then too?"

"Who cares?" Rider asks.

"Indeed." You shake your head. "Well. I have to say Agent Barrett is going to enjoy working over the human Trust agents, after they brainwashed him into freeing Ba'al." You close the folder. "Teal'c's already petitioned to interrogate the Goa'uld, and General O'neill's signed off on it. So, what do I care at this point? Just another folder for the pile of SG-1 mission reports."

You throw said folder into your desk drawer.

"In the mean time," You say, grabbing another briefing folder, and handing it over to Mitchel. "You six should look over this report, and decide if you think its worth investigating. Who knows, maybe you can derail a Lucian Alliance operation in the matter of a few hours too?"

"It's worth a try, Sir," Mitchel smiles. 

"Dismissed," you say, and SG-1 leaves.

You shake your head. Good God. How dumb can the Trust Agents even be at this point to try kidnapping a member of SG-1 in an Italian restaurant like that when the Whole Team was present?

That's just asking for trouble.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'd have done this episode fuller, but... it's a canonical Three Week Time Period for this episode. THREE WEEKS!!! That's insane. I'm already struggling with figuring out how to work with a *Six Week* time skip in Atlantis that's coming up. 
> 
> ...So yeah. Derailed.


	25. SGA:03X07: Common Ground

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> John, Jade, and Argo investigate the shattered planet below; Todd speaks.

**EARTH DATE: MAY 26TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 12/04/0005.**  
  
A Puddle Jumper left Atlantis' upper bay and flew out into space- exiting the moon's orbit, and descending towards the broken, baren wasteland of a planet below.

"Good luck out there," you are Mikari Aiikho, and you wish the recon team good luck- receiving a "Thanks, Jumper 1 out" in return- before heading back to your office.

You were going to send someone to investigate the planet and other moon eventually, but John, Jade, and Argo insisted on doing it themselves as a Date. 

You can't help but to shake your head as you settle in and dig into the paperwork.

To think that the man in the IOA behind all your troubles would get himself killed trying to kill Rose and Roxy's long lost relative. Hopefully it will root enough corruption from the supposed oversight agency to let you have some breathing room for a few days.

You could use some breathing room after the cluster fuck that has been the last-

 _"Mikari, Teyla, to medical, if you please,"_ Carson Beckett requests over the radio.

You sigh.

No rest for the weary. "I'm on my way, Carson."

You head to the Medical lab, and find your two on-call Doctors- Carson Beckett and Janet Fraiser- as well as their requested help in Retro Virus production- Asuka Shikinami- and two Wraith and a human male.

Well, former Wraith, in the case of Michael Kenmore. Still a Wraith in the case of the girl- ELLIA- a bit older now from the last time you saw her, and looking a bit more

Wraith like than she did before as well. Her adoptive father, ZADDIK, stands at her side.

"What's the situation?" You inquire as you arrive, near about the same time as Teyla.

"We're just waiting on Kanaya," Fraiser says. "But, as you know, if all goes according to plan... Today we'll be giving Michael his last dose of Retro Virus, and Ellia her first and only dose of Retro Virus."

"You've stabilized it?" Teyla asks.

"We believe so, yes," Carson nods. "But if it goes wrong, Kanaya will be on hand with Shaper to revert any anomalous changes."

"There is one concern we have, though," Shikinami speaks up. "We've never tested the Retro Virus on a female Wraith before. Only males. We're not sure if that will cause any difference in the reaction or not."

"Right," you nod- this isn't news to you. 

Teyla, though, asks, "I thought we were waiting to run this test for another few days?"

"Unfortunately," Zaddik answers, "Ellia has started to feel a hunger normal food cannot quench. We are running out of time."

"...I see," Teyla frowns.

You notice that, and then you ask, "Since I already knew all of that, I assume there was something else?"

"Yes," Ellia steps forwards. "I... When I arrived here a few minutes ago I started to sense a Wraith, far below us." She points out in the direction you know to be where the planet this water moon orbits lays. "I, felt you should be aware. It's old. Ancient. As old as the last great war."

"You can tell that from this distance?" You ask.

"Even I can sense it," Michael says. "I didn't realize what it was at first until she brought it up. But... it's there. Subtly pulsing at the back of my head. It's a very powerful Wraith indeed. I'd dare say it's a Queen, but even Queens are nowhere near that powerful even with age."

"I think I know what you mean," Teyla says. "I've been sensing something as well, but I did not think it was a Wraith. I've felt none of the usual malice. I thought I was imagining it if I am being completely honest."

You feel your heart skip a beat as you process that information.

"We just sent a Jumper down to investigate the planet," you say. "I'll go radio them, Teyla, go find Barzum and ask if she's been sensing similar." You nod to Ellia, and give a quick bow. "Thank you for letting us know. I hope the Retro Virus conversion goes well."

"As do I," the girl nods. "Thank you, Miss Aiikho."

You smile, nod, and then head out- briefly pausing at the exit to let Kanaya through. Teyla stays for a moment to converse with Michael over the Wraith they've been sensing.

Damn it. It's never anything easy, is it?

Just ONCE you'd like for things to go smoothly for more than a day.

* * *

 

[ **O < \--- STARGATE: ATLANTIS --- >O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0)

* * *

 

You are now Jade Jackson, and you frown as the Jumper's scanners pick up an energy fluctuation. "Hey, John? I'm picking up energy readings over that mountain range, just past that crater."  
  
"I thought this planet was uninhabited?" Argo asks.

"It should be," John says, "but then again, we know the Diaspora Cavern had a cloaking device that kept them hidden from surface scans back on Alternia. I'm cloaking us and taking us in to investigate, just to be on the safe side."

As you get closer to the anomalous reading, a radio signal from Atlantis comes in- breaking up with Static.

_"SSSSer One, this is AtlaSSSis. PleaseSSSSSSSSSSSSS?"_

"Uh, Jumper One to Atlantis, we can barely hear you," John replies. 

_"SSSSSSS, TeySSSSSSrzumSSSSSSSSSScted aSSSSSSth presenSSSSSSSSsurfac-"_   And then the signal cuts out.

You frown, and tap at the console. "That's odd. Must be interference from the energy signal we're getting cloes to."

"Sounds like a good way to hide something to me," Argo says. 

"Yeah," John frowns. "They probably picked up the same reading we're picking up on and were warning us."

You cross an invisible barrier in space, and suddenly the empty desert before you gets filled in with gigantic remains of metal structures.

"Oh my god," Argo whispers. "Are those what I think they are?"

"Looks like the remains of a Megazord," you stare at what's definitely a giant leg bent at the knee resting closest to you. "Just... spread out across the desert."

"Must have been one hell of a bang," John observes. "Probably part of what caused the planet to explode like it did too."

The jumper's sensors re-calibrate for inside the field, and- "Oh wow! We've got life signs. Clustered around each of the robot's major remains. Looks like some scattered clusters within the desert in-between... some moving at incredible speeds."

"Land vehicles," John points out the window at something moving along the ground in the distance, creating a plume of dust behind it. The Jumper runs a scan on it and brings up a diagram on the HUD.

"Oooh, Mechshift!" you can't help but grin as you look at the design of a device that seems to transform from a large tank into a four-legged walker. ...It's also cobbled together from what the Jumper identifies as scrap metal and pieces of Puddle Jumper components.

"So we stumbled on a Mad Max world," John summarizes.

"Cloaking was a good idea then," Argo says, ears flattening against their skull. "If they're hiding themselves away like this, there's probably a good reason for it. And if they have that kind of technology... they might just shoot us out of the sky."

"...Got a good read on another energy signal," you say, bringing it up on the HUD. "It's over in that mountain range. Looks like it might be a ZPM.... And it's looking to be in the exact center of this cloaking field."

"Probably what's powering the cloaking field," John guesses. "I'm taking us over that way."

You fly over the giant remains of the settlement, including the giant torso that seems to have been transformed into a Colosseum of sorts.

Your flight takes you over head of a battle between a warrior in heavy red armor wielding giant claw gauntlets against a fighter in light blue armor wielding axes.

"Gladiator matches," John frowns. "I don't think they'd take to kindly to us squatting on their moon."

"Just another reason to leave as soon as possible," Argo says. "There's no telling if the Asurans tracked us here, after all. Or the Wraith."

Soon, you near the mountain range, and spot the robot's head- another settlement housed in and around it.

Warriors in black and red armor train in large formations under the supervision of a large fellow in black and green armor. 

"If the other people wouldn't like us, these guys definitely wouldn't," you say, frowning. "I'm getting Radiation-induced-insanity-Genii vibes off of 'em."

"Any signs of actual radiation poisoning?" John asks.

"...No," you say. "Doesn't look like it. Of course, given certain half-lifes, it could have decayed away thousands of years ago, and the damage could still be felt in their genetics all this time later."

You pass them by, and continue on into the mountains.

"We're coming up on the energy signal soon." You report. "Looks like...."

And then you pass by some large mountains obscuring the view of a Valley below.

A very large Valley, with rocky crags forming a sort of maze within. You'd almost think it was natural, if not for the repeating pattern and curved, yet straight faced walls. And then there, dead in the center of it...

"Oh not again," John laments.

It's another Atlantis styled City Ship- heavily damaged, at that, but the central spire still stands tall and proud.

"Explains the giant cloaking bubble, though," Argo says. "They just did what we did and turned their shield into a cloak."

"Any life signs in there?" John asks.

You check... "One. Deep within the city, near where the energy source is. I'd pin it as the ZPM power station in our City if it has the same layout. But it's faint. Could be someone locked in suspended animation."

"Guess we're going in then," John says, taking the Jumper in towards the central spire.

As you completely circumvent the maze, you can't help put peer at all the damage this other City has taken. 

Many of the towers have been blasted apart, or collapsed in some way. There are large chunks of what would be Atlantis' South and West piers that are just completely craterized. And the Control Room windows seem to have been blasted open at some point.

"...Roof doors aren't responding to my requests to open them," John says. "Guess we're going in through the windows."

John threads the Jumper through the window that would be behind where the Stargate would be- and partially is.

Twisted chunks of ring shaped metal lay sticking out of the floor, and far up the top of the stairwell lies the rest of the gate.

"Someone made sure this place was hard to find," you say, shuddering slightly at the visible damage the place had taken, and imagining what horrible tragedy could cause similar in your own city. 

John brings the Jumper down, and you land. 

"I'll leave the Jumper cloaked," he says. "Anyone want to stay and guard it?"

"Nope," you shake your head.

Argo laughs. "Hell no!!"

And with that, the three of you gear up, and exit the Jumper.

* * *

 

You are Argo Lalonde, and you follow behind John and Jade as they take point with P-90s equipped with anti-replicator crystals- just to be on the safe side. 

You? You've got a Zat, also to be on the safe side.

You keep your bioluminescent wings and hair dim for the moment, lest you awaken some slumbering creatures.

Still, the sunlight peering in through the shattered windows means you've got plenty of light to see by for now.

You make your way over to the shattered remains of the Gate, and Jade inspects it with a short burst of green sparks from her powers.

"Well?" You ask. "What happened?"

"...The Naquadah in this is scrambled," Jade answers. "The molecules are all out of alignment. Whatever blew this Gate up blew it up by utterly changing its molecular structure. It's barely even Naquadah, and I don't know how that's possible."

"Experiment gone wrong?" John offers. "Could be whatever they were doing here with the giant robot backfired and shattered, well... everything?"

"Could be," Jade frowns. "Whatever it is, isn't something I'd want to run into, though."

"Let's check out the control room," you suggest.

"Mmh," Jade nods. "We might be able to salvage something from the database if a terminal survived."

"And if not, Hologram room," you say.

The Control Room is shattered, though. Control crystals for every console shattered, and it was clear the explosion of the Gate had heavily shattered everything within the immediate area.

The stairway up to the Jumper bay was intact, however, and traveling upwards revealed the whole place to be empty of Jumpers entirely.

...There was a single Wraith Dart parked in the bay.

"Well, that's ominous," John says.

"Yep," you nod.

"Definitely," Jade nods as well.

"Let's hope the lifesign in power isn't a Wraith," John says. "Let's go to the hologram room and see what we can find out about this place."

* * *

 

You are John Sheppard, and you peer at the Hologram room- or more specifically, the abundance of Wraith Tech set up in here, all tied into the database.

"Seems the Wraith had the same idea we had," you say, approaching the holographic platform. "Talk to the Hologram, learn whats up..."

It flickered to life, and the image of a man appeared, glowering. _"I told you I am not-"_ The hologram stopped. _"Oh. You are not the Wraith that set itself up here."_

Well shit.

"Nope," Jade says. "100% not Wraith right here."

 _"Greetings, fellow Lanteans,"_ The Hologram says, nodding towards you specifically. _"I must inquire as it has been quite some time, why have you returned to Spherus Magna?"_

"As far as our database was aware, there wasn't any settlement on this planet at all," Jade says. "We didn't even know it had a name."

The Hologram frowns. _"I see. So they decided to erase us from history then. Fitting, given the failure that occurred."_

"What exactly happened here?" Argo asks.

 _"This Facility- Spherus Magna- was experimenting with bio-mechanical augmentation of organic lifeforms in an attempt to see if we could create a mechanical immunity to the Wraith. While these experiments were being performed, a discovery was made."_ The Hologram answers bringing forth a hologram above him, depicting a pool of liquid silver bubbling up from beneath the surface of the planet _. "A hyper-energetic substance with an incredible trait- a Fifty Fifty chance of either transforming anything exposed to it into something newer, greater, more powerful.... Or destroying it utterly."_

"The Stargate," Jade breathes out. 

"Yes," The hologram plays a surveillance camera recording of a woman hurling a bucket of the silvery substance at the Stargate.

The substance splashed across the Stargate and began bubbling, and then the Gate began to glow red as the silvery substance somehow spread across its entire surface... and then-

With a flash of crimson light, the camera feed cut to static.

 _"We called this substance Energized Protodermis,"_ The Hologram says. _"Its discovery caused the locals native to this planet to go to war over its transformative properties. We are unsure exactly of what the element is made out of, as despite our best attempts to replicate the material in solid and liquid forms that were not nearly as reactive, those substances are akin closer to elements of Naquadah and Neutronium than they are the original element. Some of our scientists suspected that it was born into our universe through a rift in space time. Others, believed it a naturally occurring element. Regardless, it was highly sought after, and it was entirely contained around the core of our planet."_

"So, war broke out, and it got misused?" You guess. "Then the planet went bang like the Stargate did?"

"Precisely," The Hologram nods. _"The planet Spherus Magna suffered a great cataclysm after the Element became excited, and detonated a vast quantity of itself. We attempted to contain the explosion- diverting as much of the energy through this facility as we could, however, severe damage was taken, and when the after-results were seen, most of the survivors left for Atlantis or other settlements within Pegasus."_

"So what's with the Giant Robot out in the desert?" Jade asks.

"Ah, the Prototype." The Hologram grows nostalgic for a moment. _"Those of us who remained decided to rectify our mistake, at the very least in an attempt to fix what we had done wrong to this world. Unfortunately, the Wraith War was picking up at that time, and our resources were growing thin. We made a prototype super robot that exploded upon failing to initailize. Our second attempt did not fail. This robot was sent off into space to analyze planets from across the Galaxy to study their composition and to discover if Energized Protodermis was present on any. Of those that it was deemed present on, analysis of the planets structural integrity was performed, and the data to be saved. The end goal, when its mission was completed, was for that robot to return, and restore Spherus Magna to its former glory and whole state. Unfortunately, it has not yet done so, and I fear the Wraith may have sabotaged it. This facility had recorded it on approach to this Galaxy, however, we lost the signal some time ago, and have been unable to track it ever since."_

You consider that, then say, "So... Speaking of the Wraith, that Wraith here that's messing with things. What's he want?"

"Interestingly, _a weapon to destroy his own kind,"_ The Hologram says. _"However, given the unstable nature of Energized Protodermis, and the significantly reduced amount present within this planet that will likely be needed to restore it whole, offering assistance to this Wraith has been deemed... Ill considered at best."_

"Well, thanks for that," you say. "I guess we've got a Wraith to go talk to."

"What are you thinking, John?" Jade asks.

"Retro Virus," you answer.

* * *

 

The Ascended Being pretending to be a Hologram watched as the trio left the room with some heavy consideration to be done. 

"I wonder what I will have to do to convince them to leave before Velika is supposed to awaken for the day, if at all?" he muses aloud, absently scrubbing through the City and the Wraith's databases to remove all traces of the conversation he just had with the Atlantians. "I suspect I have a few hours more still. Once this facility is secured, I will have to see about the repairs. So Close! And yet so far away..."

He vanishes from the room, complaining to himself about how it might very well take a whole thousand years or more before he figured out how to repair the Robot that had crash landed just so VERY near to completing its mission.

* * *

 

You are once again Jade Jackson, and you take up position behind John, with Argo behind you, as you approach the ZPM power room- or what should be there based on Atlantis' layout.

And there he is- a single lone Wraith, hunched over the console, typing away at it idle-ly with one hand, and casually just... resting his other hand atop a large rat- slowly, slowly, slowly, draining the thing of its life as he worked.

You all just sort of stare at it for a moment- and the Wraith laughs.

"You can put down your weapons, _Sheppard, Jackson, Lalonde_ ," he grunts out. "I mean you no harm."

John glances at you in concern, then he calls out- "Uh, Hi? How do you know our names?"

"Are you kidding me?" The Wraith drawls out in a low tone, not even looking away from his work. "Your thoughts have broadcast loud and clear since you landed in this system."

A mind reader?? You-

"Finding that hard to believe? I would blame that rift up in space between galaxies if you want a cause," The Wraith stops typing at the computer, picks up the rat fully in his hand, and turns to face you, a strange, knowing look on his face. "And yes, I do mean that Rift has given me.... much greater powers of the psychic nature than others of my kind have had, _Sheppard_. And that does mean exactly what you think it means when they found out."

John winces. "I was thinking that, yeah..."

"The Wraith tried to kill you, you escaped, and went looking for a means to kill them too?" Argo asks.

"Indeed," The wraith purrs, smirking. 

"So, uh, you probably heard about the-?" You start.

"Retro Virus? Yes," The Wraith answers.

"So you also know about-" You continue to try.

"On the moon above. _Atlantis_. Yes," He shakes his head. "I mean what I said. I mean you no harm. I've known for days. If I wanted to kill you all, I would have done so already. I simply mean to find a means of... extracting my revenge among my kind. And you may help me with such a... _Daunting Task._ "

"And to think you know so much about us but we don't even know a thing about you yet," John says. "Like your name, for starters."

"Oh, I have gone by many Names, **_Major, Lieutenant Colonel, John, Egbert, Sheppard_** ," The Wraith punctuates each word of John's name history by squeezing on that danged rat. It squeaks out its final squeak, and the Wraith drops it to the ground. "They have called me Guide. Father. Husband. Genius. Scientist. Politician. Most recently... _Betrayer. Monster_." He flexes his hand, and then dons a glove over it. **_"Mind Reader."_**

"I think I'll just call you Todd, then," John quips.

"Todd? Hmm..." The Wraith considers it, then chuckles."I've had worse. _But oh,_ to think I used to be of some major standing among the Wraith. I was there when the Lanteans fled their precious City, and I am still here, ten thousand years later, picking among their ruins for scraps as I try to find a means of saving my race from its own destruction."

"By destroying them?" Argo offers.

 _"By transforming them,"_ The Wraith, Todd you guess, corrects. "A key difference, and one I think you three more than any could understand better than most. As we are, as we have been, the Wraith are an endangered species. We simply ignored it. And now... We are changed, _forcibly,_ and refused to flex with the change. To adapt. We have grown... _complacent_. We kill those who deviate now, simply because of how foolish of a scenario we awoke to. And oh, no, I do not blame you for that, _**John Sheppard.**_ " 

"Well, I'm glad you feel that way," John says. "May I ask why?"

"It was inevitable," 'Todd' says with a faint smirk and a tilt of his head. "Believe it or not, I warned us of just this thing. Called them all foolish for having our systems so intrinsically linked. _You wake one, you wake them all._ A foolish strategy. But, that was the first time they did not listen to me, and it has proven to be our downfall. Now?" Todd motions at the console. "I bask in the glory of being proven right."

"Glory, huh?" you ask.

 _ **"Glory,"**_ Todd hums. " _Yes._ As inglorious of a position I now stand... it is a strange sense of satisfaction of being proven right, though I _**hate**_ how it now falls to me to find a means of transforming my people into a new form to survive our own irrational hate towards change... and I hate that I must **_ironically_** force it upon them just the same." he smirks. "I also heard your conversation with that frustratingly vague **_Hologram._** I am disturbed to know of the sharp division rate. It is... _unacceptably high_ to me. However... this **_Retro Virus_**... I can sense the people above us on that moon of yours making it work... having made it work."

He steps forward, offering his gloved hand. 

"I make you a deal, here on this _ **common ground**_... You help me find a way to save my people from themselves... and I will help keep your secret survival from the rest of the Wraith." He snarls slightly in what you hope is meant to be a friendly way. "And yes." he adds, "I am aware of why you may be opposed to shaking my hand. _That's why I brought the Glove._ "

"Ah," John nods. "I see." He hesitantly takes Todd's hand and shakes it. "I guess we have a deal then?"

"A deal, _yes_ ," Todd says, even as both hands fall away from eachother. "Now, if you'll excuse me. I must reclaim my equipment, and be on my way. I will be in touch with you when the time... _is right_." And then he strolls away, moving past you oh so casually, pausing only once he's a little down and away from the hallway. "Oh. And from one parent to another. _Savor these years at their youngest_. You will regret not having fonder memories otherwise."

And then, he resumes his stroll down the hallway, and vanishes into the shadows.

...

...

"Was anyone else creeped out by that, or was it just me?" Argo asks.

"Mikari's not going to be happy about this," John says. 

"Understatement of the century, that," you mutter.

* * *

 

You are Mikari Aiikho, and you stare at the Wraith Hand Radio that John just placed on your desk before telling you everything that just happened in that other city.

"...So... we have a Wraith that can read minds even worse than the Wraith normally can, and he's decided he wants to be friends. And then he left you a radio to let us be contacted with whenever he decides to talk to us inside the back of the Cloaked Jumper??" You summarize, incredulously. "I'm not sure whether or not to be terrified, or concerned."

"I'd go with both," Argo says, their ears and wings twitching anxiously. "I know I'm feeling boht."

"Both... both is good," you frown. "What about the city you found?"

"We checked the Database," Jade says. "Reason Todd wasn't having much luck getting the Database to tell him anything was because it'd been erased atleast ten thousand years ago."

"But what about the Hologram?" you ask. "How would it know that stuff to show you if the database had been wiped?"

"Either it was hidden under a lot of encryption and keywords like Ganos's hologram did for Castiana and Sahal, or..." John trails off.

"Or?" You ask.

"Or it was an Ascended Ancient being oddly helpful," Jade says. 

"So there's no telling if the giant robot it talked about even exists or not," you frown.

"Pretty much," Argo nods. 

"Whatever happened on that facility, I say we keep it firmly under wraps," John says. "We don't tell anyone about anything down there except that we ran into a super psychic Wraith who wants to use the Retro Virus on his people."

"Probably a smart idea," you nod. "And if Todd is listening in even now, he'll probably pick up on that too."

"I find it extremely creepy he's been listening into everyone's thoughts," Argo says. "And I mean that more so than Boldir's powers. Boldir at least doesn't act all smug about it. Or be all creepy."

"Agreed," you say. "We'll have to bring her along on any missions involving this 'Todd' in the future."

"That's going to be fun," John says.

"I can only imagine," you shake your head.

"So, um," Jade coughs. "How did it go with Ellia and Michael?"

"A Total Success," You answer. "Ellia's converted to human without issues- even retained her memory through it this time- and Michael's DNA is remaining extremely stable, and showing no signs of deterioration or reversion. Carson says he's extremely confident this new injection based version of the Retro Virus will work every time."

"What about the gas versions?" Jade asks.

"...That, they're much less confident on, but-" You smile. "It's a start. And that's really all we can hope for."

The trio nods in agreement. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: Mckay and Mrs. Miller.
> 
> So, uh. Yeah. Sharp eyed viewers may notice that I borrowed... *significantly* from Bionicle for that lore there. Equally sharp eyed viewers will be relieved to know that I won't be pursuing this bit of background lore fluff further than beyond introducing that rogue Ancient, Velika, after all... the GIANT ROBOT just *CRASHED* and that means that the main story of Bionicle itself won't be happening for atleast another thousand years. Far, far, far, safely out of the context of anything within the scope and span of this story.
> 
> I just needed some background filler to patch in details for a planet we literally *never saw* in canon Atlantis. And also a reason that they can't stay on this planet come the End Of Season 3. I'm literally just borrowing a certain character's name to use for this Annoying Ancient, and it's not going to be touched on much beyond just... existing as background detail. This falls more under the RWBY nods that have existed so far, rather than more of the Obduction or Myst or PR:RPM nods that necessitate a tag. Trust me, Bionicle Lore is complicated enough without turning "Great Beings" into the Ancients. 
> 
> In more fun news regarding this chapter:
> 
> Todd was never captured by Kolya in this timeline, and so he is free to do his own thing... and his own thing is vastly different considering the Rift Energy bantering about. Kolya is still imprisoned off world. So YAY. Best Wraith is here! 
> 
> Also, YAY! Ellia lives! Properly now with a working retro virus! 
> 
> And... Michael continues to float around in the background. What's his deal going to be, I wonder?


	26. SGA:03X08: McKay and Mrs. Miller

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AKA: The "How I could have done things" episode that'd probably have been the same in either direction.

**EARTH DATE: JUNE 3RD, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 12/12/0005.**  
  
Mckay had arranged for a small sensor satellite to be left in the Laneta System to observe the damage done to it after several ZPMs had exploded and released their contents into real space. 

Somewhere, in the fractured mess of dimensions, where the planet Atlantis had once rested on would have been, a small tear in the fabric of reality formed- growing, growing...

And then, all of that exotic ZPM energy left behind began to be pulled through the rift, draining, draining, draining...

And all of that was BEFORE the exotic particles began to form in the aftermath.

Needless to say, Mckay's satellite broadcast a distress signal immediately.

Less than an hour and a half later...

The Daedalus arrived in the recently vacated space of the Lantean system- rerouted from its mission to aide in placing Spacegates built in Alternia to create a bridge between the three galaxies- and made its way towards the recently obliterated planet.

"You know," you are Colonel Stephen Caldwell, and you frown at the giant sparkling mass of energy infront of you where a planet should have been. "Something tells me that space time isn't supposed to be doing that."

"No, it's not," Mckay says, checking the sensor readings on a tablet. "Carter, can you tell me if you're coming to the same conclusion I am?" He hands the tablet over to Morgan Carter.

"A high concentration of unidentifiable exotic particles," she says. "It's really similar to readings from that time you blew up five-sixths of a solar system."

"Poking fun at my stupid mistakes aside, that's exactly what I was afraid you'd say," Mckay says, taking the tablet back.

"Hey, if people can keep giving both me's grief over blowing up a Single Sun?" She shakes her head. "But yeah. If that's what I think it is..."

Neither of them say anything for several moments, so you ask, "What exactly are we dealing with here?"

"Someone decided to pull a Project Arcturus, but instead of draining subspace energy from their local dimension, they decided to pull that energy from Ours," Mckay says, tapping at his tablet. "And it's likely on an Atlantis that didn't just have its entire solar system obliterated by ZPM containment failure."

"Meaning that they might have no idea what they're doing to our dimension," Carter says. "Given the dimensional instability our universe already has because of two rifts, we probably proved to be the easiest tapping point for whatever other world is out there causing this. Add in the abundance of ZPM energy that recently got released here..."

"Yes, this could be very, very bad..." Mckay frowns. "We should radio them."

"Alright. Open a channel into the rift," you order Marks, who opens a channel. "Go ahead," you nod to the two scientists/

"Atlantis, this is Doctor Rodney Mckay of, well, Atlantis. Whatever experiment you are running is having extreme and serious repercussions on our side of reality. Please halt your experiment immediately."

For several minutes, and attempted repeated broadcasts of that message, there is no reply save for static.

Mckay looks to Morgan Carter, and says, "You give it a try."

"Alright," Carter pauses, and does her best to sound like her older alternate self, "Atlantis, this is Lieutenant Colonel Samantha Carter of SG-1, please shut down your experiment immediately. Authorization Code, Charlie, Alpha, Five, Seven, Three, Roger."

There is another long reply of the repeated message receiving no response.

"They must have shielding that's preventing them from receiving our radio signals," Mckay deduces.

"What do we do then?" You ask.

"...Obviously we..." Mckay frowns. "Obviously, we send a probe through with a message and try to get them to stop by doing that."

"And how do we do that?" you ask.

"Beam it down into the rift?" Carter suggests.

"...Hermiod, Novak," you radio. "Prepare a small space drone for transport, to be loaded with technical data from our scanners and beamed through on my mark." Then, you turn to the scientists again. "If this doesn't work, what's our plan B?"

"...We send someone through the rift," Mckay says. 

"That could be a one way trip, though," Carter says.

"Yeah, well, if this probe doesn't work, then we're screwed either way," Mckay says. "If we don't shut this thing down, this new rift is going to start growing, and it's probably going to grow in a very unstable fashion. And unlike the OTHER dimensional rifts we have in our universe if this one gets big enough, I don't think our reality will fare well at all."

"How bad are we talking about?" You ask.

"...If it reaches a certain point? Our whole reality could suddenly cease to exist in a snap," Carter says. "We'd just... flat out... stop existing."

 _"Probe is ready,"_ Novak reports.

"Good," you say. "Lock onto the center of the energy rift, and beam the probe through."

 _"Beginning transport..."_ Novak reports. _"Matter stream away... aaaand transport lost."_

"Lost how?" Mckay asks, he and Carter looking at the feedback sent by the probe before it was lost.

Carter answers, "It looks like the matterstream began materialization, and was destroyed by a stream of inbound energy from our dimension." She frowns. "Without proper shielding, the probe couldn't fully reform and lost molecular cohesion."

"So much for radioing them," you grunt. "Any change in the rift's output?"

"No," Mckay says. "I doubt they even noticed the probe starting to beam in before it got scrambled."

"So... shielding necessary then?" Carter asks.

"I could probably manage that," Mckay says. "Use my Self shielding, maybe boost it with the shielding device from the Atlantis lab..." He nods. "I could shut this down from the other side."

"I'll contact Atlantis," you say. "I am not beaming anyone through that rift without Mikari's permission."

* * *

 

**O < [\--- STARGATE: ATLANTIS ---](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0) >O**

* * *

 

Mikari okayed the mission on the condition you carry a Relto book with you, and thus, after gathering one...  
  
You are Rodney Mckay, and you encase yourself within a double layer of forcefields. It had taken a bit of work to repower the shielding device after it had been drained from that energy monster, off and on work that had only just barely become an idle time waster after you'd gained the power to shield yourself with your own firm and stubborn willpower.

But...

Well, you'd gotten it working and probably just in time too, considering...

Well.

It's sort of boring being beamed through an energy rift between dimensions. Beaming, and then waiting for the energy in the chamber you landed in to stop hounding your forceshields.

 ** _Flare flare flare flare flare flare flare flare._** It could almost be a musical beat if it kept up for long enough. _**Flare flare flare flare flare flare flare fla-** Shhhhh.._

It stops.

Your shields remain active, but the energy hounding them has stopped. 

You're in an Isolation Chamber Lab in Atlantis.

You deactivate both forceshields, and stand up from the kneeling position you were stuck in.

"Oh my god- Meredith!?"

...What.

You turn and look and see the usual Atlantis science team standing there- with the curious change of yourself being absent and your SISTER standing there wearing an Atlantis uniform.

"...Who's Meredith?" You ask. "No, wait, before that. Who's in charge of this experiment?"

Your dear sweet innocent sister, JEANIE MILLER, raises her hand- you spot the glint of a wedding ring and are surprisingly relieved that that fact hasn't changed any across worlds.

"Okay, well, we need to shut this thing off," you jab your thumb back at the machine you just landed in. 

"We already did," Zelenka speaks up. "A foreign object- you- beamed into the isolation chamber so-"

"Ah, good," you smile. "Job done then, I guess?"

 

* * *

  
You're put into isolation.

You're put into fucking isolation and peered at like a strange, bizarre commodity.

Familiar, haunting eyes peer down at you from a single level above.

Elizabeth Weir is alive in this world. And she's speaking with Sheppard and your sister from above. (You're amused to note that Sheppard has some lipstick smudged across one of his cheeks. You must've interrupted date night.)

Sheppard, and your Sister leave, and a minute later, they enter the Isolation room.

"You're supposed to be dead, Meredith," Sheppard says, first thing out of his mouth- staring, shock-eyed and slack jawed at you.

"Again with the Meredith? And- wait. Dead?" you blink. "Oh. Don't tell me. Kolya? During the storm of the city?"

"Well," Sheppard blinks. "Yeah. He shot you out of some stupid, misguided show of power. Tyzias and I were barely able to get the shields up without you."

"Lovely," you say. "So he killed me in this timeline instead of Weir. Great. Well, I suppose that answers that little question."

"I guess it does," Jeanie approaches you, staring hesitantly at you, and then-

OOF.

She's hugging you. God, she's hugging. Really, really tightly. Oooof. 

Your forceshield springs to life, giving you just enough room to breathe.

"Woah-" Jeanie backs away. "Meredith, what the hell?"

"Again with that?" You frown. "That's not my name."

"Uh, yes, it is," Sheppard says. "Meredith Rodney Mckay. And seriously- where'd the forcefield come from?"

"What?" You stare, confounded. "Mere-? Oh! COME ON, MOM!" you hang your head in annoyance. "You went for the embarrassing First name in this reality instead??"

You shake your head, dismiss the forcefield and offer your hand. "Doctor Rodney... Osmo... Mckay. And the, ah, forceshield is something that happened after prolonged exposure to Zillyum particles."

"Osmo!?" Sheppard shakes your hand. "Uh... I guess that makes sense?"

"I guess there are some subtle differences between our worlds if Mom named you after the cat!" Jeanie stares, and then laughs. 

"The cat?" You stare. "I- Oh my god. What is it with our mother and embarrassing names?"

"I have no idea!" Jeanie says, wiping some tears from her eyes.

"Anyways," you shake your head and sit down on one of the chairs. "We should talk business." Jeanie and Sheppard sit down. "Now, uh... I'm going to make some assumptions based on what I've seen so far and readings we've taken in our own space time, so, ah, stop me if I'm wrong?" They nod. "So... I'm assuming you're running some sort of experiment that's designed to draw energy from parallel universes, and it's also designed to do that by bridging parallel universes?"

"Very Hot," Jeanie nods.

"Well, while I'm sure it's been a success on your side, it's having some nasty repercussions in my universe," you say. "So, in our world, we've had a series of, well, dimensional explosions, to put it lightly, that's created two tears in the fabric of reality. Now, they're stable and not growing in size, but, we figured that they made whatever your experiment is doing zero in on our dimension as an easy source of energy."

"Oh fuck," Sheppard's eyes widen. "Let me guess. Dangerous exotic particles that don't belong in either of our universes?"

"Exactly," you say.

"I told you it was a bad idea!" Sheppard says, nudging Jeanie in the arm with an annoyed look on his face. "After Carter blew up half a solar system trying to get Arcturus to work I knew it was a bad idea!"

Wait, what? Oh, you're not going to mention that if you ever get back.

"I thought we could make it work!" Jeanie counters, hiding her face in her hands.

"So, ah, you knew this could happen?" You ask. "And went through with it anyways?"

"We didn't think about universes that already had holes punched in them from other means," Jeanie admits, peeking through her fingers. "Sorry."

"Yeah, well, I'm guessing you didn't have Elwurd and her merry band of misfits steal a Quantum Mirror and jurry rig it into a Hyperdrive in this world-line?" You ask.

"...Elwurd?" Sheppard frowns. "As in the bitch who blew herself and an entire prison on Diaspora up with a Mofang gravity bomb trying to rescue her imprisioned matesprit?"

"Huh, guess that explains that," you say. "What about Corinth City? Did Venjix create a rift through from that dimension to this one?"

"...Never heard of Corinth," Sheppard shakes his head. 

"It's, ah, in the Dimension that SG-1 went to a few years back to help the other version of Earth that had been over-run by Apophis because Hammond never followed a time loop letter?" You offer.

"Oh, them," Sheppard frowns. "Yeah, no, never heard of a Venjix or anything else going wrong there."

"I guess Doctor Kae installed the firewall right then," you muse. "Wonder what divergence caused that?" you shake your head. "Anyways. So. By the sounds of it you've lucked out by avoiding giant rifts in space time that super charge people's genetics and give them weird powers or phyiscal mutatations?"

"Just me, Argo, Jade, and Rose that have powers here," Sheppard says. "Teyla counts too, I guess."

"I could guess that held true," you say, motioning at your cheek. Sheppard checks his own and goes crimson as he decaptchalogues a hankerchief and smudges off the lipstick. "It seems like the major divergence point between our realities was, my name aside, probably either my death, or Elwurd fucking up and offing herself before she could cause us no ends of trouble." 

A thought occurred to you. A butterfly caused by that.

"What about D'ni?" You ask. "Did Joey Claire ever go to New Mexico?"

"Uh, no?" Sheppard frowns. "What's D'ni?"

"So you don't have Linking Books then?" You ask.

Your sister looks at you like you just sprouted a second head. "Isn't that from a Videogame, Meredith?"

"Yes and no," you say. "It's a bit hard to explain... If we have time, I guess I can." 

"So... uh, not to chase that Butterfly for a moment," Jeanie starts. "...Why did you come through to our world?"

"Well, see, we had to Abandon Lantea due to the Replicators-" a dull rattle of annoyance jumps from Sheppard to your Sister- "Ah, ran into them already, huh? Anyways. We had to abandon it, but in the process we destroyed a rival City Ship they sent to destroy us. We escaped to Hyperspace, but the rival City Ship's ZPMs detonated-"

"Leveling the entire solar system and beyond with pocket dimension space-time," Jeanie nods.

"Right, so, I had a probe left behind to observe the area just in case, and then we discovered your rift of energy forming. We came in the Daedalus, radioed you guys a bunch of times to no reply-"

"Shielding in the isolation chamber," Jeanie interjects, and sighs. "Should have thought of that too."

"We should get someone to install a radio transmitter in there just in case things go wrong on your end even with the device shut down," Sheppard excuses himself for a moment to radio Keiko and make that recommendation.

"Right, well, after that we tried sending a probe- beaming it again, it failed to re-materialize due to the exotic energy matter pounding it during transmission," you continue. "So we hypothesized- Carter and me- that a shield would be necessary."

You make your hand flare green with a shield. "I can make my own, and I brought a repaired shield device with me just in case, and, well, here I am!"

"I'm sorry we had to force you to come all this way," Jeanie says. "It was a one way trip."

"Ah, not necessarily," you say. "Can I have my Sylladex back?"

* * *

 

It takes a while, mostly during the time it takes to get you set up with some guest quarters, but you get your Sylladex back, and you decaptchalogue your EMERGENCY ESCAPE LINKING BOOK. 

"This is my ticket out of here," you say. "It's a book tied to my home dimensional cluster, in its own unique way. I just touch the pannel, and poof! I'm gone!"

"Linking Books," Sheppard stares at the small green book in your hand. 

"Mikari insisted I take one with me just to be on the safe side," you say. "Once I'm reasonably satisfied that your project is causing my dimension no more trouble, I'll be out of your hair."

"So, ah," Jeanie starts. "How long are you staying for then?"

"Well," you say. "I guess we have to wait and see if just shutting the project down was enough to stop it."

"I guess so," Jeanie nods.

"So, uh..." You trail off. "You have three kids here in this universe too?"

She laughs. "No, no. Just two."

"Ah, yeah, I suppose that'd make sense considering you must've come to Atlantis after I died before you had the third one," you muse. 

"Yeah," she nods. "I... I was really shocked to learn what had happened. I... Originally I came to collect your ashes and possessions, then Doctor Weir offered me a job, and, well..."

"You couldn't help but join to find out what your bro was doing?" you ask.

She nods.

"So, ah, just to check for more temporal butterflies," you start, "Maddie, Bradley, and Robbie?"

"Maddie and Bradley, yes," Jeanie nods. "Do you... have any pictures of Robbie?"

"An ultrasound, yeah," you say, fishing for your wallet to dredge out pictures.

You and your alternate dimension sister spend the next few minutes comparing lives.

She never got your video letter in this world- considering you never lived long enough to record it in the first place- so she used working in Atlantis as a way to connect to a you that she never got to know. Name differences aside, it seems like your two worlds followed very similar patterns of serial escalation. 

The differences really only started showing up at around the time of your death. The Storm.

You suppose this is a world where things went entirely differently.

* * *

 

Before you go to bed for the night, you find yourself facing Elizabeth Weir once more within her own office.

"So," she stares at you. "Kolya killed me in your world, huh?"

"Yep," you say, feeling just as uncomfortable with the ghost of a close friend as she must be feeling.

"Who replaced me, out of curiosity?" Weir asks.

"At first? Doctor Jackson. He couldn't handle the Strain, and Mikari Aiikho filled in after that. She's been running the expedition ever since," you answer.

"Jackson, huh?" Weir stares out at the gate. "I can see that. The replacement, and the not handling it. Good to know I made a different decision in this world, even if it wasn't necessary, in the end."

"Oh?" You ask. "Who'd you choose as replacement?"

"Argo," Weir says. "They've been training as my secretary. I'd feel they have Atlantis in better hands if I were to die suddenly."

"Argo, huh?" you shake your head. "Yeah, I can see them taking it up well enough."

"Did you know they named their daughter after you?" Weir offers. "Merry Quinn Sheppard."

"What? Seriously?" You ask. "They did the same in my world, for you. Elizabeth Quinn. Lizzy for short."

"That's consoling," Weir says. "Oddly consoling, at that. All I have to ask-"

"Born during the siege against the Wraith? Yes," you nod.

"Atleast there are some universal constants," Weir muses.

"Kid knew how to make a dramatic entrance regardless of world, that's for sure," you agree.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: JUNE 4TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 12/13/0005.**

You keep the date straight in your head even if the local clock for Diaspora is a whole month ahead in this timeline.

For some reason, Sheppard's come to fetch you early in the morning. 

You groggily follow, and find him, Jade, and Argo have set up a small golfing platform near one of the water entry doors nestled between the south-west and south piers.

"Golfing?" You ask. 

"Uncle Jack's idea," Jade shrugs, and you notice she's done something different with her hair- its cropped short rather than long. She's also protectively cradling her stomach. Huh.

"We don't do it in your world?" Argo asks.

"Never," you say. "Or atleast, if you do, you don't invite me."

"Funny," Sheppard muses. "We used to do it all the time while you were alive. Wonder why that changed?"

"You three were probably too busy hiding Argo's pregnancy for the first few months," you muse, picking up a golf putter. 

"Oh. Geeze," Argo's ears go flat against their head. "Why the hell did we do that for?"

"Given that we later found out that choice was a divergence point for a whole alternate reality creation point?" You ask in turn. "We found out it'd keep you from coming to Atlantis, that'd send Jade back in time, and a couple of different choices could be made, resulting in the creation of our world, a timeline where Atlantis sank beneath the waves, and one where they took off and went back to Earth, creating Keiko's world."

The three of them look as if they'd been given a missing piece to the puzzle..

You consider their reactions, then ask, "So... Let me guess, that never mattered in this timeline?"

"The older Weir from the ice box said there was a me that came alone," Jade says, "and we later found her lab where she said something similar, but... we just figured the divergence point was General O'neill okaying Argo to come to Atlantis with us instead of telling them not to."

You muse on that. "Huh. Funny how that works out. I guess there was some other break between our timelines after that nexus point."

You begin playing a game of golf. You, John, and Argo, that is. Jade retrieves your golf balls with a flash of her powers after each shot touches down. She's content to remain sitting and watching.

You talk a bit about your world more, they talk about theirs. 

Things are mostly the same, baring some surprising differences here and there.

"I can't believe Uncle Jack would actually propose like that!" Jade howls with laughter. "Oh my god, i wish I could have seen that!"

"You and me both," you say. "I had to hear about it through the grapevine after." You shake your head, line up a shot, and give it a strike.

_**SPLOOSH!** _

"Nice shot!!" Sheppard whistles. "Easy 275! Hey, you know, I've been meaning to put up buoy markers out there. But, who has the time, right?"

"I'd put off on it until you know if you have to move or not," you say. "The, ah, Asuran Replicators have proven to be... pretty hostile."

"That's something I've been meaning to ask about," Sheppard frowns. "What exactly happened in your world?"

So you tell them. 

Argo stands up, and demands to borrow one of John's free hands. Then, they perform a 3x Face Palm Combo. Argo then proceeds to line up for another shot as Jade fishes the golf ball back.

"Woolsey! God damn it, of course he'd screw things up worse," Sheppard shakes his head.

"Well, considering you took the Wraith they made chase you right back to their front door," Jade muses, "they're going to be pretty busy for a while. I Guess we should think about moving sooner or later given that."

"So, ah, what happened in your world?" You ask. They tell you.

Weir negotiated for hours before the Asurans captured you. Then, held you hostage. Niam wanted to Ascend, and so asked for Jeanie to modify the entire Replicator species' source code. Jeanie who took your spot on the team. It didn't work exactly as planned. 

Jeanie ended up freezing the Replicators with a source code problem, rigged the enemy city's ZPMs to overload, and they all gated the fuck out of there before everything went bang.

They hadn't dared send anything to investigate the aftermath yet, but the Replicators hadn't returned in this reality. Not yet.

You file away that thought for later. Overload the ZPMs and obliterate the entire planet, huh? 

* * *

 

You end up having breakfast with Teyla and Ronon while the loving trio all go back to their room to get their kid- named after YOU of all people- to bring to breakfast. 

Teyla is about the same, unsurprisingly. 

Ronon...

You have no idea why Ronon is so much more quiet and reserved than yours, but you're willing to bet it's because he had a rougher time while being on the run, or because Ford didn't rig things to work out a certain way. Or it could be because he never met you and is eyeing you with suspicion, but you're more willing to bet its a Ford thing Because. Well.

There's Another Surprise. 

Ford is at his own table in the Cafeteria, eating breakfast and discussing something with Aradia Megido of all trolls. He looks fine, save for an eyepatch over the eye that went black in your world. You can see hints of a scar line peeking out from behind the patch's edges.

The siege went differently here, it seems. You can easily imagine it being a thousand times worse without your presence simply adding a mere extra set of hands for certain activities.

And then- you and Jeanie are paged to the test chamber that you arrived in.

You hurry there, scarfing down the rest of your breakfast that can be easily carried in one hand along the way.

...Zelenka reports that they turned the device back on. "Shutting the experiment down only made things worse for us. The Bridge is still active, but we were not drawing any power, creating a pressure wave build up- like a dam. If we didn't turn it back on again, it would have resulted in a catastrophic overload and-" He mimes an explosion.

"Ah, right," Jeanie sighs. "We should have thought of that."

"Well, that's part of why I'm still here," you say. "Since it's been brought back up, any radio transmissions from my side?"

Zelenka nods, and brings you over to a terminal.

Since the device was shut down a similar pressure build up had been detected on their side- and the build up had been relieved the moment the device had been turned back on.

A problem on both ends.

They were working on solutions from their end... And they estimate that there is atleast a week and a half before the rift on that side expands as far as where Atlantis could have been- and at that point it might very well have expanded to hit that critical threshhold of disaster that could make your universe just pop right out of existence.

You and your sister work for a few hours in relative silence- talking only about the work that needs doing.

Until you take a brief break for lunch, that is.

"So... you sent me a message in your world," Jeanie starts.

"Yeah," you nod. "We all sent messages, I mean, but... Yeah. I mean, I lived to get to that point."

"And we've... reconciled, I guess?" Jeanie asks.

"About as well as we could, given how estranged we got," you say, a bit hesitantly. "I mean, we don't talk about work. For either of us. The first time after I sent the message and we talked work it... well. Needless to say we wasted a whole fresh package of Maddie's painting easel papers putting equations on the walls in fingerpaint."

"Oh god," Jeanie chokes. "Poor Maddie. She hates it when I do that on my own. Just... lost in the process."

"Yeah, we sort of baned work talk after that," you scratch at the back of your head. "Speaking of Maddie. Is she...?"

"No, she doesn't live here on Atlantis," Jeanie shakes her head. "Not full time, atleast. We're alternating weekends."

"...Don't tell me you and Miller split over this?" You ask.

"Not officially, no. He wasn't happy I took a job offer in another galaxy," she sighs. "Sometimes I wonder if it's worth it. We're... we're still trying to work things out."

"Well," you say. "If we solve this, I say you take a break, go home, and solve that problem." You put a hand on her shoulder. "If there's one thing this Job has taught me, Jeanie, it's that family is the most important thing. I'm sure Meredith wouldn't have wanted you two to fall apart like this over him. I know I wouldn't."

"Thanks, Rodney," Jeanie smiles at you.

"Ah! We're receiving a transmission from the other reality!" this world's Keiko Ayano calls out suddenly.

"Back to work," you say, and go to read it...

...Fucking hell. Unsealing the dam just caused MORE problems. The Exotic Particles are ramping up in scale faster than before. Oh, sure, they have a potential solution...

But the solution would destroy this world's Atlantis as well as tear a hole in the reality of space-time of THIS universe.

It would take all of the exotic particles from their side and jam it back into this one.

Jeanie comes up with an idea in the time it takes your briefing of the above facts to pass it to the point of elaborating that the subsequent rift in space time would swallow up Pegasus entirely- let alone the whole entire universe if it continued to grow.

One giant black hole of entropy just, erasing everything as if it never existed, caused by Daedalus Hyperbeaming the rift.

They have six hours before they reach the point of no return, and will be working on alternatives in the meantime... and suggest you do the same before that six hours is up.

"We need to collapse the bridge with a massive burst of energy, stopping the creation of exotic particles on the other side by doing so," Jeanie says, giving her idea. 

"How massive of a burst of energy are we talking about?" Weir asks.

"Atleast a single ZedPM's worth," Jeanie answers.

"...We can tank that," Sheppard says. "We've got three ZPMs from Aincrad. One drained won't hurt us in the long run until we can get a replacement."

"So much for Infinite power," Weir shakes her head. "Get it done. I don't want either universe collapsing on itself because we were foolish enough to hoard a ZPM."

And thus, the plan is put into motion.

You stay, watch, and observe as a full ZPM's worth of power is shunted into a rift... closing it.

There's no more energy output building up, and... six hour later there's no impending blast of doom.

With everything squared away, you say goodbye to your alternate universe sister, and she gets to properly say goodbye to the brother she never got a chance to reconcile with...

And then you link back to your universe, and back to Atlantis through the Library shelf.

A long haired Jade Jackson happened to be sitting on guard duty of the book room, and looked up with a smile.

"What's my full name as you're aware of it?" You ask, just out of paranoia, before she can say anything. 

"Uh... Rodney Mckay?" Jade answers. 

"No middle names or alternate first names?" You ask.

"Nope."

"Who's incharge of Atlantis?"

"Mikari Aiikho."

"How did Elwurd die?" 

"Blew up when John and Ford destroyed a Wraith Hiveship between galaxies," she answers, frowning, but she gets the point.

"And the rift over Lantea?"

"Dispersed and the exotic particles faded out about ten minutes ago."

"Good," you say with a nod. "I made it back right then."

"Welcome back," Jade says. 

"Thanks. Now if you'll excuse me I've got some time off to request to go back home so I can talk with my sister about her life choices, and also schedule an appointment with my therapist," you say, and head to talk to Mikari's office.

It's been a very long day.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All of the post-Anubis/English death cross-road points I could think of got touched on here. Major decisions where I could have gone one way instead of another. The only one that was a Pre-Anubis/English-Death cross-road choice was Mckay's name. In canon his name is Meredith Rodney Mckay, when crafting this story I wasn't sure whether I was going to keep that or leave him with a different name. I flip-flopped and just never actually committed until this episode on anything. I even did a run-through of every Mckay appearance that it might have surfaced in and I didn't find anything contradicting myself, though I may have missed something due to typos.
> 
> For this episode, I decided that in the main timeline, he had a somewhat different name, and that would be the divergent point between the two timelines, and to make it a bit more distinctive, I'd have this alternate timeline specifically have him go by his first name rather than second. 
> 
> Main things to touch on for the Post-A/E Death divergences:
> 
> Argo not hiding their pregnancy: If I'd decided not to commit to detailing the exact timeline shenanigans that created Keiko's world, this probably would have been the choice I'd made. It'd have just remained a background detail rather than given a minor arc focus, likely. The whole lore about how Keiko's timeline was formed would have been detailed here for sure- another one of my "Force the Issue Now or Forever Hold Your Peace" nexus points, it seems.
> 
> Rodney dying instead of Weir to Kolya: This is one of the most major butterfly points I can talk about here. When I was debating killing Weir, I briefly considered the idea of killing Rodney instead. Decided against it for this version of the story, at any rate, but in another universe? Hmm... evidently not. I was more enamored with the idea of bringing Mikari in as a replacement Weir in this timeline, though. Following on from this, naming the Kid differently is an obvious change, and also possibly leads into...
> 
> The Ford Divergence: I'd considered leaving Ford in Atlantis, and being hurt in some other way as to kick him off the team, but... I've had way much more fun writing Heart-Aspect Enzyme Crazed Ford than I would have had leaving him normal. That said, Rodney dying *would* cause things to go differently for Ford even tangentially.
> 
> Jeanie Miller: If I'd killed Mckay, I'd considered bringing her in to substitute for him, but I also very well might have just not had her become a regular and just have her appear every now and then. Not much else to say about it.
> 
> No Elwurd Makes A Cosmic Rift Scenario: I'd considered nipping Elwurd's grand plan in the bud with the prison break in some fashion, and not actually going through with the utterly cosmic failure that was a hyperdrive explosion creating a massive rift in space time. Needless to say I'd also have cut the rift energy mutations as a side-effect. This change, however, does lead into:
> 
> No D'ni Contact: *Shrugs* It was always a crossover I wasn't sure I was going to commit to doing or not- I almost very much still didn't go through with it when I was writing the initial stages of that arc here. 
> 
> No Venjix: Situation being as it is in our series of events, the implication is in this other world that Damara did things differently there, causing Venjix to not happen. I'm not going into much detail about *why* though, mostly beeeecaaause of the headache thinking about Damara's shenanigans causes me. She probably stole him from the Alphabet Soup instead of waiting for him to come to her with a giant robot body. Another case of me not committing to a crossover element. 
> 
> Golf: Canon Sheppard apparently golfs. Not so in the main timeline- it didn't fit John Egbert's personality really- but in this alternate version of events, I stuck it on.
> 
> Short Haired Jade: I've always liked the idea of a Short Haired Jade rather than Long Haired. Might even export this one style change into what's coming over the next few chapters. 
> 
> SCHEDULE:  
> The Next chapters for this week are:  
> ALT:10X04: Firebrand  
> INTERMISSION: Your Average Wednesday.  
> INTERMISSION: Twitch  
> SGA:03X09: Phantoms
> 
> READER QUESTION:  
> Out of any of the possible alternate scenarios that I mentioned in this chapter, are there any that you would rather have seen me do proper as a main timeline fact instead of what I did do?


	27. ALT:10X04: Firebrand

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "I don't want your damned lemons! What am I supposed to do with these!? When Life gives you lemons, DEMAND TO SEE LIFE'S MANAGER! MAKE LIFE TAKE THE LEMONS BACK!" - Cave Johnson.

**EARTH DATE: JUNE 10TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 12/19/0005.**  
  
The sound of a ticking clock could be heard despite nothing existing to create it.

Artoira Pendragon stood at the solid metal door of a hidden containment vault within the wrecked ruins of the crash-landed City on the deserted continent of North America in a parallel world ravaged by the Venjix Virus.

Artoria stood there, unmoving, waiting, staring on ahead. Her green eyes were overlaid with a hue of crimson, indicating that someone else was behind the wheel, so to speak.

Slowly, Artoria raised her hand, and with a flicker of dimensional energy, the sword CLARENT appeared within her grip.

The sword began glowing, brilliantly crimson, as she raised the blade, and then brought it down upon the solid metal door.

The entire metal substance making up the door flickered- shimmered, and collapsed into dust.

Clarent the Sword faded from Artoria's hands, and she turned to walk away, job done, even as the massive mass of silver within the unsealed vault stirred to life, and began moving outwards, like a tidal wave of silver liquid, except for the fact that it was not made out of a liquid.

No.

It was a silver wave of a dust like substance that moved on its own.

The silver found its way to the walls, and escaped through the cracks.

Then, once exposed to the wind, it took to the air as a cloud of silver dust, blowing along in the wind towards the Domed City of Corinth, far away, on the opposite side of the continent.

* * *

 

[ **O) < \- STARGATE: ALTERNIA - >(O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHTke_0BlD0)

* * *

 

 **EARTH DATE: JUNE 11TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 12/20/0005.**  
  
With a final strum of guitar music, the audience errupted into applause, and the Grubbels on stage gave a large grin, bowed for the audience, and waved to the audience.

"Thank you for coming!" Joey Claire called out to the audience with the microphone. "Have a good night everyone!!"

And thus, the group exits off stage.

"Nice job out there!" Your name is Mierfa Durgas, and you grin at Joey, Xefros, and Dammek as they join you behind the curtain of events. "You guys rocked it!"

"Damn right we did!" Xefros grins as Dammek immediately goes for a water bottle.

"I didn't see Polypa in the audience," Joey starts, her smile dimming slightly. "Did she ever show up?"

"No, actually, she got held up," you say, holding up your cellphone to show a series of texts from your Moirail.

Joey frowns at it. "Oh. Great."

"What is it?" Xefros asks, glancing at it. "...Oh. Shit. Dammek? You gotta see this."

"What's going on?" Dammek asks, moving over, and then sighing as he sees the texts. "Damn it, Callie."

* * *

 

It doesn't take long to get back to your hive in the Diaspora forest, where Polypa is performing some emergency medical attention for a rather large burn on Callie's arm in the front room.

"What the fuck happened?" Dammek asks, barging into the room after you've barely had a chance to open it.

"I have no idea," Callie shakes her head. "One minute I'm helping Doctor Kae settle a girl suffering from a violent reaction to Zillyum, and the next thing I know the building is shaking and then my Relto Book panic linked me out before I knew what was happening. I came here as soon as I realized what was going on, but that's when Polypa noticed the burn I didn't know I had. It didn't hurt any!"

"Yeah! No shit! Your nerves were literally burnt to a crisp!" your Moirail shakes her head. "It's pretty severe beyond that, too. There's not much I can do beyond prevent infection from setting in. One of us should take her to Atlantis so Kanaya can patch her up."

"I'll do that," Dammek says, moving over to his Moirail. "The rest of you should-"

"Go check it out just to be on the safe side?" Xefros asks. Dammek nods. "Right, well. Might as well check in at any rate."

"If we're lucky it was just an Earthquake," Joey says, as Dammek moves to check on Callie, and Polypa stands to move over to join you. "Let's get the Zords, just to be on the safe side."

"I'll stay here and coordinate with Okurii," Xefros volunteers. "And keep an eye on Toko, too."

"Thanks, Xef," Joey smiles.

* * *

 

"Okay, was it just me, or was 'giant metal anime girl with smashy arms' a nightmare for anyone else last night?" Your name is Ziggy Grover, also known as RANGER GREEN, and you, Dillon, Scott, Summer, and Flynn are busy trying to hold a rampaging patient of Doctor K's still long enough for Gem and Gemma to get a shot lined up with a specially reprogrammed something or other version of their megazord's finisher attack.

Really though, Zenith Megazord versus a giant metal girl with arms as long as her entire body from head to toe and as thick as the skyscraper she'd busted out of?

"Because. I've had this dream. Vividly!" You state, working the wheel as you try to hold the poor girl still. "Literally had it last night!"

"We get it, Ziggy! You had a dream about Little Miss Strength here!" Dillon snaps back, a bit frigidly. "Now focus and help keep her steady!"

"What do you think I'm doing!?" You ask, twisting the wheel a bit to try and keep your Shark Zord's grip on the girl in place. "I Stress Jabber! I jabber when I'm stressed! It helps me keep focus!!"

"Well it's making ME loose focus!" Dillon counters. "This is NOT what we're usually doing with fights like these!"

"She's certainly not skipped her iron pills, that's for sure!" Flynn remarks.

"Seriously, if this is anything like that nightmare I had she's about to-!"

"Hold On!" Scott warns. "There's an Energy surge running down her-!"

And then the robot-girl's giant arms light on fire, and an explosion sends the Megazord tumbling to the ground.

"Never mind!" Scott grunted as you all reel from the blow. 

"About to do that, actually," you groan, clutching at your helmeted head. Is that a CRACK in your visor? Geeze, that's a crack. Ow. You really took a hit there somehow.

"Gotta say," Summer laments, "I never thought I'd miss the good old days when we just blasted the giant monster to pieces!"

"The good old days were just a few months ago, Summer!" Flynn counters as you work to get the Megazord back on its giant orange crocodile slipper'd feet.

The poor girl is flinging fire up at the Mach Megazord, forcing them to dodge the blasts. 

It's a good thing the Dome isn't even on anymore, those blasts are flying straight through where the shielding would have been and out into space.

"So, uh, I hate to ask, Ziggy," Flynn starts, "but how did this nightmare of yours go again?"

"Well, after knocking us down she'd throw herself at Gem and Gemma-" you're cut off by Scott ordering for them to dodge.

They do so right as "little miss Strength' as Dillon put it flings her hands into the ground and uses her whole arm as swings to launch herself feet first at the Mach Megazord.

Oh, little strong arm misses with her feet, but she manages to launch into a furious spin of fire-enhanced arms that smash into Gem and Gemma'z megazord and sends it tumbling to the ground.

"-And Do a spinny tornado fire thing!!" you cry out. "This is exactly like my nightmare come to life!"

Mech Girl lands in the streets, and glowers at your Megazord, slowly stomping her way towards you.

"What happens next!?" Summer demands, even as the Mach Megazord struggles to get to its feet.

"I don't know what happens next! I woke up when my alarm clock went off!" You answer in a panic as the strong-armed girl marches towards you with a slightly faster clip.

A rift in space time opens up suddenly between you and the mech girl, and from it emerges the other-dimension's Paleomax Zords.

The girl roars, and starts swinging her arms at the trains as they circle overhead.

A communication screen opens, and Joey Claire appears there- _"Woah! What's the situation here, Rangers?"_

"Colonel Claire, boy am I glad to see a familiar face," Scott laughs. "One of the Venjix Patients Doctor K was examining suddenly grew mech arms and then grew to giant size. We've been playing distraction and keepaway while Doctor K tried to work up an antivirus."

 _"Do you have that?"_ Claire asks. 

"Yes, but the Mach Megazord has to be the ones to fire it, and we haven't had a chance to get a clean shot in," Scott informs her.

 _"Then we'll help you hold her steady! We'll take left, you take right!"_ Claire suggests. 

"Alright!" Flynn calls out. "Let's corral this lass and go home!!"

Claire nods, her transmission cuts, and then the tree trains transform into Megazord mode.

The "KYORETSU MEGAZORD!" lands with a tackle- grabbing Mech girl by the left.

Zenith Megazord charges in, grabs the girl by her right.

"Gem, Gemma, NOW!" Summer calls out.

The Mach Megazord lines up its bow and arrow attack, and lets loose a brilliant green arrow blast that strikes strong-armed girl through the chest and electrifies her body.

Both Megazords disengage, and watch as her body starts to expunge a massive cloud of silver dust into the air as it shrinks down, down, down, down... and then is out of sight as she returns to normal height.

"Oh thank God we finished that," Flynn exhales in relief.

"Are those nanomachines?" Dillion asks, observing the cloud of particles growing in size in the air.

 _"Running scans,"_ one of Claire's co-pilots says, appearing on screen, and narrowing her green eyes at something off camera. _"..._ Oh. **Oh no**. _That is very much a nano machine cloud!"_

"Doctor K? Are you seeing this?" Scott asks.

 _"I am, and I'm very concerned,"_ she replies over the radio.

Then, once the silver particles have stopped escaping from the girl, they jettison upwards and explode outwards into a massive burst of silvery smoke, no doubt showering everything in the city with the stuff.

"That... that's not good, is it?" You ask.

"No, Ziggy, it's not," Dillon answers.

* * *

 

You are Xefros Tritoh... and you made the decision to stay behind to coordinate and babysit. 

You're more doing the latter than the former- and really it's more of a sitting grub on you than the oddly named reverse from Earth. You're lying on the couch, and, well...

"You know, I thought with us retiring from the front lines and stuff we'd be avoiding situations like this," you lament aloud, mostly to yourself, but also partially to the grub resting on your chest, peering at you intently with sparkling eyes framed by green hair.

Little Toko sits intently, staring at you as you ramble.

"But nooope. It always happens. Just when we think we're out. Something drags us back in."

Toko blinks, tilting their head slightly, murmling a faint chitter of confusion.

"Sorry, guess that meme wouldn't resonate with you. Before your time," you chuckle a little. "I hope everything's going alright over there."  
But knowing your Moirail and her Kismesis and Matesprit... 

"I just hope that after this we can just retire and not have to worry about life or death situations anymore," you say. "I just wanna relax, live my life, and make music. Yknow?"

Toko chitters something that you choose to interpret as "No, Uncle Xef, I don't know! I'm just a grub."

You sigh. "It just makes me mad, Toko. Makes me so mad that every now and then we just keep getting caught up in this shit."

* * *

 

"Those were NOT Venjix Nano Machines," your name is Doctor K... Kae. And you frown as you compare the results from both your own scans as well as the scans from the Kyoretsu Zords. It's hard working with your arm in a cast, but you've managed so far. "They were something else entirely."

"Unfortunately, our Zords recognized what those were," Colonel Claire says, shaking her head. "I don't know if you heard or not, but earlier this month our version of Atlantis sent a team to Gate Coordinates recovered from the city that crashed in this world. It was home to a bunch of nano-machine based robots called Replicators."

"I'd heard something about that," you nod. "Doctor Ohphee mentioned it, I think, just before miss Koutari went Megazord sized."

Yuu Koutari, a poor girl who'd been infested through and through by Venjix's hardware. She'd complained of pain in her arms, and had come in for a checkup when she fainted and her arms suddenly became encased with giant metal versions of her arms.

You and Doctor Ohphee had worked to stabilize her, but... then there was that explosion.

Your arm buzzes with dull pain as you suppress the memory.

Now, the poor girl lies within the Garrage's lab- resting on a table that you'd once strapped Dillon onto many a time- her brown hair had turned stark white as if bleached, and her skin had darkened considerably over her entire body, and was peeling in places, like a nasty sunburn taken to insane degrees... where it wasn't visibly overrun with mechanical bleedthrough from beneath her own skin. 

She'd sprouted a TAIL of all things- mechanical and spiky and swishing in an idle pattern even as she slumbered away her dramatic transformation.

"...So, are you saying that the nano machine cloud we just saw evaporate from my patient are from Replicators and not Venjix?" You ask.

"That's... pretty much what I'm saying, yes," Claire nods, a bit grimly. "I'm pretty sure all the Zillyum isn't helping matters either, this close to the rift."

"No, I imagine it wouldn't," you agree.

* * *

 

"So..." 

You are Mierfa Durgas once again, and you glance over at the Yellow Ranger from this world, sitting down on the edge of the pool table in their garrage. The rest of the team is off surveying the City for damage and hoping to catch any other sudden 'growth spurts' before they happen. Your Matesprite is talking with Doctor K in private in another room, and your Moirail is keeping an eye on the girl you just had to restrain and shrink down from giant size within "The Lab."

"So?" You ask in turn.

"...I don't think we've ever properly met," Yellow extends her hand. "I'm Summer."

"Mierfa," you say, shaking her hand. 

The shake breaks, and Summer glances at The Lab.  "Can I ask you a few questions?" She asks.

"Sure," you nod.

"You and the other two girls you pilot that Megazord with are all dating, right?"

"Something like that," you say. "Alternian Quadrant Romance is pretty complicated to say the least, for newcomers, anyways. We're not, like, dating all under the same Quadrant. It's kind of like a triangle of different emotions at this point."

"And you're all mostly retired now, right? From fighting?"

"Pretty much," you nod. "We're trying to raise a family and all that, now."

"So... How did you all deal with the pressure of going into battle with them knowing what might happen if things go wrong?" Summer asks.

You peer at her. "You crushing on someone on your team?"

"Well, me and Dillon have gotten pretty close, I guess," Summer answers, evading the question partially.

"We deal the same way we deal with the possibility of losing any of our friends in battle," you answer her original question. "We make sure eachother don't die when we're working together... and we make sure that we don't die when we're working alone."

"...That makes sense." Summer sighs. "I should have realized it was that obvious." 

"Sometimes we have a hard time seeing what's infront of us," you say. "We nearly lost Joey a while back. She used her own bio-electric fields to power our Ultrazord for a fight. It nearly cost her the ability to even walk."

"That cane, right," Summer nods. "I notice she doesn't really use it much."

"Still handy to have incase she needs it," you say. "And she has, still, some days. There are good days and bad. Damage like that doesn't just magically go away, even with magic healing technology, and Today's been one of the good ones, fortunately."

"Thanks to the Ranger powers, most of our injuries heal up rather fast," Summer frowns, glancing at her hands. "But... after we beat Venjix it feels like things are slowing down a bit. Like the drive isn't there as much. Like we're taking more risks every time we morph. And it always felt like a risk every time, but... it feels worse now, somehow?"

"I wouldn't know anything about that powers thing," you say. "But... it sounds to me like times are just changing. Getting tougher and tougher. And you gotta adapt to the changes with 'em. Things don't stay the same forever, after all."

A moment of silence passes.

"...Ziggy was talking about having had a dream about today's fight," Summer suddenly says. "I know people are gaining powers, and having changes after being exposed to Zillyum, but... it just seems odd, doesn't it? That he'd get the ability to see things in his dreams? Like. It feels like it should be something else, somehow."

"Seers exist," you say. "Did on Alternia before rift powers were a thing. Cassandra Fraiser's had that ability, too. I'd say it's probably something more natural than not. All things considered." You frown, glancing at her. "Unless there's something else?"

"Our suits have powers, built into them. Scott accelerates for ten seconds, Flynn freezes time, Ziggy can teleport, Dillon can make shields... I can throw bursts of energy across a room and blow up a squad of Grinders without flinching." Summer then holds up her hand, and then sparks of yellow and pink light dance across her fingers. "This morning I woke up able to do this. Why did Ziggy get the ability to see into the future while I got my Ranger Suit powers?"

"The way powers seem to manifest with Zillyum..." you muse, "they're tied to the soul. Our desires, our fears. Hopes, dreams, concerns, and the situations we find ourselves in." You hesitate. Would Polypa be okay with you sharing this? ...No, you'd better not touch on that one. "Maybe Ziggy desired to know more about his future with everything being so uncertain versus prizing his ability to teleport?"

"So what does it say about me that I can use my suit powers outside of it?" Summer asks.

"How does that power work, exactly?" you ask.

"It reads the flow of energy in something infront of me and I can generate a blast of energy that counters it," Summer answers. "I could stop an explosion of propane gas cold using it, for example."

"Well, right now you're certainly someone who's focused on reading the information of a situation to figure out how it's working," you say, "I'd think you're a perfect match for that power, with or without the suit. It's a very Heart Aspect-y thing to do"

Summer considers it... then, asks, "Heart Aspect?"

"Mmh, Aspects are things Alternia's tied to our signs and our personalities when assigning them. DIaspora's seers look to the future to determine a match, Alternia... Well, it's been hit or miss for some Trolls. Xefros' sign is Rage and he's... one of the least Rage-y people I know, normally. Sometimes he and Baizil can get pretty heated, but... eh. Most of the time he's really chill." You shake your head, "Meanwhile, Okurii is about as Blood-bound as you can get! She gave a speach and united an entire planet, once."

"How does 'Blood' equal uniting an entire planet?" Summer asks, frowning. 

"Blood is opposite Breath- freedom and restriction. Blood is the oaths that bind. 'Covenants forged in blood on the battlefields' are prized among old Alternian culture, 'cause we didn't focus so much on Families, back then. That's shifting now, somewhat, but I don't think it's ever going to go away, considering everything that's happened." You pause. "So... Okurii gives her speech after the whole planet nearly got glassed by an insane General. Everyone's made aware of his madness, and they hear this singular, uniting voice telling them how we have to work together... and we did. There's a reason we still have her as our leader right now, even in times of peace."

"So... Heart is...?"

"Matters of the soul," you say. "The Self. The 'Ultimate You' as some people call it. There's this guy, Ford, who can peer into various other dimensions and see how his other selves have experienced things, but he can also steal energy from them, somehow." you pause. "The thing about Aspects is how life shapes you in addition to how you shape you. John and Jade seem to have the same general abilities despite two different timelines of existence- Breath and Space. But then Rose has split into a Seer, and a walking Cheshire Cat- two different expressions of Light. But then there's Argo and Nepeta." 

You find it refreshing that despite you throwing these names at her, Summer isn't asking for clarification of who they are.

"Argo went through a whole alternate timeline's worth of traumatic experiences, and came out of it, after a trip back through time to change things, with the ability to Buy People Time. Even during her Signing ceremony, she was given Time as an Aspect. But then there's her past, alternate self, Nepeta, who... who's very heavily Heart. Her abilities are manifesting slowly as being able to tamper with people's souls, and are manifesting visibly with Heart's signature coloring. She literally teleported a Goa'uld symbiote out of a man's neck once just by zapping him with pink lightning."

Summer glances at her hands, sparking the yellow energy across her fingers. Intermittently, a faint spark of pink and purple flare in amongst the yellow arcs. "I didn't even notice that before. It's much more yellow-orange when I do it morphed."

"The suit's likely interfering with it in that case," you bullshit a guess. "...That said, what do I know?"

"...What's your aspect then?" Summer asks.

"Me?" You laugh. "Hell if I know. The Signers at the cavern I was born at couldn't figure it out either and gave me something they made up on the spot!" You muse on it. "Maybe I'm Void then? I certainly got drawn in by Joey's Light, that's for sure. But who knows. Can't say for certain one way or another unless I go for resigning by the Diasporan Seers... and I really don't care to go through all that trouble, honestly. I don't really need to know what my Aspect is. I know who I am and that's just fine to me."

* * *

 

Your name is Polypa Goezee, and you notice the girl on the table starting to wake up.

"Hey, easy now," you start. "You're-"

The Girl realizes she's restrained, and then she screams as the metal on her arms suddenly ignite and catch fire and burn her out of her restraints.

"Woah woah woah! Put that out before-!"

The Fire Sprinklers kick in.

The flames refuse to go out on her arms, though the fire set to the table she was on is rapidly put out.

"HELP!" The girl shrieks. "I'M ON FIRE! SOMEONE HELP ME! HELP! HELP!!!!"

You do what needs doing, setting flames along your arms as you hug the girl and try to pull her flames into yours.

"Ssssh! Easy! Easy!" You start. "Just follow what I'm doing!"

"I-I-!" She hiccups. "Okay!!"

You tell her to focus on the feeling of the flames, where the warmth comes from and where it is now and where it should be. And you help her pull those flames down within her body. 

Careful, careful...

And then after who knows how many minutes of working on it, the fire sprinklers cut off because you've helped the girl extinguish her own fire.

"Wh... Where am I?" the girl asks, confused, dazed.

"You're in my personal Lab, Miss Koutari," Doctor K says, standing at a door with Joey from whenever they entered the room. "We brought you here after the accident."

The girl stares at Doctor K for a moment, then, asks, "...Who are you?"

Disconcertingly, immediately there after:

_"...W... Who am I??"_

* * *

 

"Unfortunately, it seems her memories were scrambled during either the growth process or the shrinking," Doctor K says. "I'm not sure which outcome is worse."

You are now Joey Claire, and you frown. "But the memories are still there, right?"

"Yes, she reacted positively to images of her parents and friends, though she couldn't remember their names," Doctor K nods. "I suspect and am hoping that, rather than it being a mechanical error caused by the nanomachines flooding her system like that, that it's merely a case of trauma induced amnesia."

You both look out into the lab through the door from the Backup Computer Terminal room. Polypa's helping keep Yuu Koutari focused on positive things rather than negatives, such as her lost memories.

Said positives seem to be learning how to control and manipulate her new fire generation abilities, but, better she learn control than start a fire every time she panics.

The orange glowing eyes is decidedly a concern, however. Ever since she's woken up, they seem to hum with light, as if lit up from behind like neon signs... and in cases of sudden, and heavy use of her new abilities, suddenly light up with actual, glowing orange flames.

They fan out from either side of her face like a pair of animated sunglasses- flickering and moving in impossibly mirrored patterns. 

"She's going to make a good teacher someday," Doctor K remarks.

"Polypa?" You ask.

"Yes," K nods. "She deals well with children and those with similar experience levels, from what I've observed."

"Well, I'm not sure if that's a teacher thing or a mother thing," you muse. "...But, whatever the case is... I think you're right in that regard. She knows how to get down on their level easy enough. I never would have thought that, years ago. Too obsessed with Fire and death... Too... explosive, I guess," You can't help but chuckle a little. "But, that's what drew me to her in the first place."

"Time changes us all, Colonel Claire," Doctor K says without even realizing how pointed that title is, at this point. 

"Yeah," you say, thinking back to that young, innocent girl who found herself flung into the sparks of rebellion in a whole other Galaxy, and what she'd think of you now?

...Probably, she'd be shocked at the idea that she could ever become as willing to commit violence as you have. How different would things be if you'd stubbornly held onto those childish notions of avoiding violence at all costs?

You're not sure you ever really want to find out.

* * *

 

Your name is Okurii Leijon, and you smile as Joey knocks on your already open office door. "Welcome back," you greet.

"Hey," Joey says. "Sorry about just... borrowing the Kyoretsu Zords like that."

"It's fine," you say. "Xefros filled me in on the situation. I'd have rushed too." You stand up and sit down at one of the chairs opposite your normal seat. Joey joins you in the other one. "Dammek reported back that Callie's arm will be fine."

"Good, good," Joey nods. "I'm glad she's doing better."

"What happened over there?" You ask.

"So, those Pegasus Replicators made it to Corinth," Joey summarizes. "They're pretty much a giant cloud of nanomachines right now, spread out and soaking into anything they can, I guess. A lot of them got into this girl and grew her to giant size. They were lucky Doctor K had gotten some solid readings on what was going on just before the sudden growth spurt. We showed up just in time to help take her down without too much more of a fight."

"That's good," you nod.

An awkward silence falls for a few moments that feels like an eternity.

"The, ah, SGC know about the Replicator thing?" you ask.

"Yeah," she nods. "Yeah. We. We let Sam know. She said she'll inform the SGC."

"That's goods," you repeat yourself... "...So, um.... I was just about to get off from work."

"Yeah, I should get home too," Joey nods. "It's... been a long day."

"Yeah..." You sigh. "Sorry I couldn't make it to the concert tonight. Work got in the way. Someone on the IOA French Rep's side is trying to pin the blame of his death on us in some way."

"No, no, it's fine," Joey shakes her head. "Polypa got sidetracked with Callie and couldn't come either... Wait. What? What do you mean?"

"I have no idea," you groan. "They're saying that 'magic flames burning out his insides' could only be 'Alternian Magic'- COMPLETELY ignoring the fact that rift energy is a thing! And, ugh. Stupid fucking bastards keep saying it had to be an Alternian hit job despite the fact security camera footage shows it was a pair of humans!"

Joey works her jaw. "That's... Nobody's buying it, are they?"

"No, thank whatever god is watching over our universe for that fucking tape, or else they might just be getting away with it, but it's still a fucking nightmare to deal with." You lament. "As it is? O'neill's leveraging for the people petitioning for us to 'pay recompense' to get their heads checked out for brainwashing. But still... Ugh. What a nightmare. I get their boss is dead but where do they get off trying to pin the blame on us? Every single person on Earth or Diaspora with Seer-type Abilities is even saying a human female related to the family hired those two women to save Victoria and kill Albert, not an Alternian. So even IF somehow those two girls were Alternians in disguise, that still means the blame isn't on OUR GOVERNMENT! Just... god. Politics. I'm really starting to hate it."

"Only just?" Joey asks. "I would've thought that point was years ago by now."

"Yeah, funny," you scoff, bitterly. "I don't mind the smart ones. Atleast then it's fun fighting them. It's the idiot jerks that I hate. Their arguments are always so DUMB and STUPID and they refuse to even listen or pretend to concede the point. They just keep insisting they know better and that everyone else is lying. It's... God. I want to slap them upside the head so badly!!"

"Wing slap 'em, instead, maybe?" Joey offers.

"Hah, I wish. They'd just take it as a declaration of war or something..." You shake your head. "...Just... Fuck the Idiots trying to get in charge of things. Am I right?"

"Agreed," Joey nods. "Fuck 'em with a lemon-themed grenade up their butts!"

You can't help but laugh at that visual metaphor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Artoria. STAHP. What're you doing!?!? ...you can't even hear me, can you? Stuck in whatever deaf to the multiverse mode that Damara put you into, huh?
> 
> Also: A hybrid of a Black Rock Shooter and Generator Rex nod with poor Koutari Yuu there. Just a nod, though.
> 
> A brief look back at Joey and co- they've been out of focus for a while now, haven't they? Sigh. The problem of having completed their character arcs and not having anywhere else to really... go with them as far as narrative importance goes. They deserve a break, really. 
> 
> Reader Question... Is anyone even still reading this anymore? I get the feeling my two week break really killed off any readership momentum. I'm still gonna keep writing cause I wanna finish this, but... idk. Just feels like things have hit a slump in terms of retention.


	28. INTERMISSION: Your Average Wednesday.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An Uncle and a Niece debate Family Politics.

**EARTH DATE: JUNE 12TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 12/21/0005.**  
  
Your name is Daniel Jackson, and you look through the references of the Ancient Database for this planet your new moon-base orbits.

But there's really nothing here. The Ancients deleted everything referring to the place.

It's not confounding and insane to think that they'd do such a thing, though, considering they erased all mention of the REPLICATORS.

Sarah brings in a plate of sandwiches to your office, and you put it all aside.

Well. If the Ancients failed so hard as to wipe all records of experiments TWICE? You're not going to pry deep for ans-

You stop as you swear you catch a glint of Ascended Light through the office window.

...

...

...

No. That doesn't seem right at all. Somehow.

...You frown. Something isn't quite right.

* * *

 

The Ascended being snarled slightly to himself.

Surely, SURELY there had to be a way to convince the Atlantians to flee to another planet lest they discover any one of the Six Canisters now floating about in the ocean.

He could only keep them hidden for so long while splitting his attention between the city and the island.

He had to scare them off somehow... Somehow...

But was that man researching the Asuran project as well? Hrm... Perhaps... just perhaps...

No, that would risk drawing their attention here as well. To the Robot. To the Islands.

And then he found himself drawn elsewhere- another plane of existence.

"Hello, there, Uncle," a female voice suddely interjected. "I believe you go by Velika these days?"

The Ascended being- 'Velika' for lack of a better name- frowned as he turned to face the woman who spoke."Well well, if it isn't little darling Trance," he mused, spying her essence glowing before him. "You've grown, haven't you?"

"It took some time, but yes, I Ascended," Trance said, putting her arms behind her back. "As did you. I find it surprising that you are alive, even. Last I'd heard you'd killed yourself diving head first into a pool of that accursed silver liquid. And now that I turn my attention back to this Galaxy after recent events have played out from an annoying rival's hand, I find you still alive. Hiding away inside the body of a machine."

"A Clever Ruse," Velika smiled. "Tell me, Trance. Are you merely talking to me now out of a desire to reconnect, or is there something else you want? I Have plans to fulfill and many repairs to make to the Great Spirit Robot."

"The 'Great Spirit'?" Trance scoffed. "Are you Religious now? Whatever happened to "The Grand Melding Machine'?"

"Its repair devices grew sentient," Velika reports. "Everything inside it grew sentient. We created **_LIFE! Again!"_**

"After the Asurans, I'd think you all would have been more careful," Trance remarks. "And now they're active not just in this reality, but in another."

"Since when did you Ascended lot care about the endeavors of other realities, Trance?" Velika asks. "The reason I hitched a ride along with the Great Spirit was to avoid dealing with the rules. I ascended and was confronted with rules and demands from those ingrates. I refused to play by their rules, and had my own plans already as it was. Exile is not a punishment when you never wanted to be a part of such an Exclusive Club to begin with." He then chides, "Ah, but you got me monologueing. You avoided my question, Niece Mine. What do you want?"

"I've seen the images within the mind of the vessel you've inhabited," Trance remarks. "I've seen what you have planned for Spherus Magna upon its reunion."

"And?" Velika threw his hands out far and wide. "Do you expect to stop me? I doubt the Others will take kindly to it."

 _"The Others are Dead_ , Uncle," Trance informs him.

"And how is that?" Velika asks.

"A Man named Hunt, whose goals aligned with mine and others. He killed them. Absorbed their essence. We few Ascended who remain in this plane now fall under the banner of Andromeda," Trance then extends her hand. "Your Goals are not so different from ours. And So. I Extend an offer to join us."

Velika stares at Trance's hand, then he laughs.

"...Have I said something funny?" She asks.

"Hah... Oh, darling Niece of mine," he smiles a rather wide, disturbing smile. "While I appreciate the offer... _I'm going to have to decline._ It's obvious you come to me out of _ **desperation.**_ If you'd truly needed my aid, you could have sought me out at any time during the last Ten Thousand Years. It's not as if you lot couldn't figure out what I did afterwards. I've seen some of you buzzing around. Harper, for example. I saw him observing not just Five Hundred years ago. _The **Rampant** Curiosity_ must have gotten to him so badly! Hah. I'm certain he saw me, and if he works for you as he did your father? Well. You've known where I am."

"I will admit, I've hesitated for some time to make this connection..."

"And yet you only play your hand now? Only after my plans grind to a halt on an ocean's floor due to a meddling VIRUS who had delusions of God Hood?!" Velika laughs- a bitter, sorrowful laugh. "What do you offer me? **A Galaxy?** _**The Universe?** A solar system? I care not! _I have dedicated ten thousand years of my life to this project! To seeing Mata Nui through to his glorious mission's end!! I have plotted and planned and done everything I can to ensure that I rule not as a god of celestial might! _But of one of PHYSICAL PROWESS! My Kingdom awaits to be restored!!! Your delusions of godhood are no better than the Ori! I refuse! I reject! You come to me seeking manpower! Seeking MY AID after your plans have failed! What of HUNT?!"_

"...He is dead."

 _ **"EXACTLY!"** _Velika laughs. _"Dead! Even Ascended Beings can die! But me? Oh. No. I will persist. My spirit resides within a vessel that transcends flesh! Transcends machine! I am BIOMECHANICAL and I am IMMORTAL!!! My kingdom of a Dead Land waits to be reborn!! And It. WILL. As soon as I get rid of these meddling Lanteans. As soon as I kick them off of my world. I will restore Spherus Magna and rule it as its rightful KING! And then... once I've Secured it, I will-!"_

 _ **"ENOUGH!"** _Trance yells, aura flaring. "...I... I thought I could trust you to support me, Uncle. It seems I was wrong. Enjoy playing with your mechanical toys for the rest of eternity. I am sure that whatever fate you have in mind for them is not what destiny truly has in store. Know this, Uncle," She steps forwards, glaring at her uncle, eye to eye. "One day, you will be inches away from success only to have it ripped away from you for the rest of time and space! _Spherus Magna fell. **Atlantis Fell. EARTH. FELL.**_ Our kind runs, and it runs, and eventually it comes back to bite us in the end when we play gods. I thought I could ask you to help me re-evaluate. To plan. To take those toys you are so fond of and elevate them to our level! But no... No. You and Hunt have the exact same damned flaw."

"And what's that?" Velika asks.

 _ **"PRIDE."** _She accuses, growling, nearly spitting the word out. "And Pride will always fell even the mightiest of trees." And thus, with four final words, she forced her Uncle back down into the vessel he had chosen to inhabit, "You made your choice!"

And thus, a small, brown armored robot blinked on its orange eyes as it awoke from its slumber, and shuddered slightly.

 _'Damn. She has truly inherited her father's temper,_ ' Velika thought, disgruntled, getting to his mechanical feet- wobbling unsteadily due to the uneven length of his legs. Gyros and muscle counterbalanced within a few seconds, but it was slower than it had once been.

Before the 'damage.' Before the 'repairs.'

...Before a damned Virus program grew greedy and attacked the controlling mind of the Robot, crashing it into the ocean of Aqua Magna but hours before its mission could be completed.

Before the continent he had resided on shattered, and escaped the belly of the beast and burst forth onto the surface of the ocean with a sickening lurch of now volcanic activity.

Velika used his mangled manipulators to grab his tools, and peered out of his residence.

The volcano loomed overhead, spewing smoke and ash into the air, and lava down its sides, tumbling, tumbling, slowly making its way towards the water where it hissed with steam and burnt off heat. The other villagers were debating names. He simply called it a hell spawn of failures. A prison holding him back from his true desires.

They were so confused now, hesitant and worrying, wondering what it could all mean.

He knew. He knew all too well.

He'd done the math. As it was, the remaining energies within the Core would keep the Robot alive for another thousand years or so. That was how long he had to find some way of repairing the damage and getting it back on its feet.

After that? There was no telling what would happen.

He HAD to get Atlantis to leave, sooner rather than later...

And after that aggravating conversation with his niece... he was leaning so very close to risking it all and summoning whatever remained of the Asurans after Atlantis had brought the Wraith down upon them to deal with Atlantis.

...Damn it all. Damn it all!

Didn't his niece realize how important his work was!?

What did it matter if they took over a SINGLE UNIVERSE?

He knew of a device that could access whole other WORLDS with but a thought, opening a gleaming portal to somewhere else entirely.

He would rule everything.

And he would rule it with EXACTING PRECISION.  
  
But first, he had to deal with Atlantis.

...If he didn't come up with anything soon, he was going to have to fall down on his WORST PLAN OF LAST RESORT. Contact the Asurans, and summon them to Atlantis...

But he would do that, if it seriously came down to it.

* * *

 

"Are you sure about that?" You are now SARAH GARDNER, and you blink as you hear Daniel make his sudden exclamation.

"I'm positive, there's an Ancient sneaking around in Ascended form peeking in on us," he frowns. "But what they want? Who knows. Maybe it was the move to this planet? Either way, I'm sure that whoever it was was trying to dissuade me from going down and researching into this facility's history. The Ancients erased it for a reason... and this Ancient is bugging me to drop it? I'm not going to let that lie."

"Maybe we should," you say. "This whole 'shattered planet' thing has me on edge. I'd rather we leave and be done with it."

"There's something they don't want us seeing," Daniel says, doggedly determined. "I intend to find out what that is."

Oh Daniel. You just can't let it go, can you?

"Then I'll help however I can, Daniel," you promise.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Don't worry, this guy's plans won't come to fruition for another thousand years if he's *lucky.*
> 
> But he's not lucky. 
> 
> The dice have already been rolled and he's gotten snake eyes.
> 
> Trance, meanwhile, gives us a glimpse into the current mindset of the Andromeda group. They're... not doing so well if Trance is forcing herself to come try and recruit this lunatic. They're pretty desperate, I'd say. Hunt was really the unifying mindset behind them, and a hefty chunk of the power as well.... and probably the only one who could unify a bunch of different mindsets and outcomes into a single plan.
> 
> Damara really fucked them over like that, backstabbing Hunt. 
> 
> Then again, it was only inevitable they'd fuck up. People with delusions of Godhood really tend to screw up everyone's day when they act out like that.
> 
> Meanwhile, Daniel's not too keen on letting things lie. Why Daniel, why?


	29. INTERMISSION: Twitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A bad day and some meta talk about canonicity.

**EARTH DATE: JUNE 14TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 12/23/0005.**  
  
_**BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ.** _

Your name is Joey Claire and you awaken feeling groggy and tired and like your enitre body is a series of weighted pullies without the gearing mechanisms in place.

 _ **BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ,**_ Goes the alarm.

Your arm twitches and vibrates as you try to move it.

**_BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ._ **

Ah. It's going to be one of those days isn't it?

_**BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ.** _

You glance over at the still buzzing alarm. Ugh. Why didn't you go with a musical melody or something?

_**BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ. BZZZ.** _

Slowly, surely, you sluggishly move your arm and tap down on the button.

_**BZZZ. BZ- Click.** _

You sigh, rolling over in bed, and staring at the wall.

Was there anything you had to seriously do today?

....

...

..

.

Nothing comes to mind.

You slowly shift to put your feet on the ground and get to your feet...

Sleep wooziness makes you sway- but an Arai beetle swoops in from a nearby perch and helps stabilize you.

Yeah. Gonna be one of those days.

You lean against the wall for support while you direct the beetle to fetch your cane and bring it over.

You get dressed, and head out to the kitchen. 

Mierfa and Polypa are buzzing about fixing breakfast for the lot of you. You give a good morning greeting and set about making yourself some chocolate milk while you wait.

Coffee Mug, chocolate mix powder goes in, spoon goes in, plain milk out of the fridge...

Oh, it's a new bottle. Bluh.

You struggle for a moment to pop the tab off from beneath the lid, and then start pouring.

You goof, ever so slightly, and some milk spills over the edge. "Damn it..."

You go to move the bottle of milk out of the way so you can clean it up and then--

_Clink!_

\--Somehow you manage to knock your coffee mug over and spill what little milk and the powder that was in there out onto the table.

The next thing you're really aware of Mierfa's rubbing your back and Polypa's cleaning up the mess and your breathing is nowhere near stable and everything feels like its twitching and vibrating and and and you feel like you're on the verge of crying and---

"Sssh. Shh. It'll be okay. It's just milk."

You hate this.

You hate how you're not in CONTROL anymore. How everything is just- how suddenly just these tiny things can be so overwhelming and you- you just...

...

...

You make yourself another glass of milk because you have to prove to yourself that you can so you do but its soured by the disaster that just happened.

And you...

You feel so damned lost.

* * *

 

"So... lazy day in bed, huh? Or, well, couch, I guess." 

You glance up from where you're lying on the couch, and see Xefros standing over you.

"Yeah," you nod. "It's been one of those days so far. Just wanna lie down and sleep forever."

Xefros sits down on the floor next to you, and asks, "So... is everything okay?"

"Just... reminded of how tiring it all is to be a hero anymore," you answer. "I didn't sleep well last night. I was stuck wondering about what's going on and what could be done to fix it... Ignoring for a moment even if there wasn't another me already working on that world to get their SGC relocated back to Earth after everything that happened." You move a hand out over the edge of the couch, and Xefros grabs it to give a squeeze. "I think the stress got to me. I haven't had a good morning so far either."

"It's almost 1, now," Xefros says, "so no, I'd say not."

"Shit, seriously?" You frown. "I haven't even felt hungry. Just tired."

"Probably a sign we should get you to eat something," he says, and you agree.

You're not even that hungry all things considered, but your force yourself to eat something small. Some small sandwich cookies- the Alternian variant of those oval shaped cookies with chocolate filling in the middle- and a couple small bottles of yogurt smoothies that you suspect won't be a thing on Earth for another few years until the trend catches on.

The cookies are kind of dry. You check the best by date and see it's at least a month past then. Whoops. Oh well. 

You chew and crunch the cookies, then wash 'em down with the yogurt smoothies. 

"So," Xefros starts, open ended.

"So," you answer in turn, equally open ended.

"I think our time's past," he says. "Baring some extant time loops from our past selves that for SG-1 haven't happened yet... I get the feeling we've won all of our fights. There isn't anything left for us to really... win? If you get what I mean?"

"I've... been thinking the same thing," you admit. "What's... really left for us to do? Except live our lives as peacefully as we can? Let other people do the fighting, let the newer and newer generations fight their own fights and battles... But I spent my childhood on this. Shouldn't I owe it to the next generation to keep fighting until I can't?"

"Maybe, when there are occasions we need to pick up the mantle again, I can see that, but... for the most part..." Xefros takes a sip of a yogurt bottle as well. "I'm looking at it this way." He starts, "We have Megazords right? So, let's think about us as Power Rangers for a minute. All fancy and suited up every week for every battle, but... we beat our endgame villain. Sure, there are other enemies out there to beat, and sure, there will always be people to fight, but... our specific story arc completed itself, and baring a few cameos in future seasons and crossovers... we're free to live our lives outside of whatever narrative constructs the writers might impose on our show."

You consider what Mierfa was talking about regarding Summer, the Yellow Ranger from a different dimension. A dimension where Power Rangers isn't just a TV concept for a couple of galaxies. 

"So... what. We exist outside of 'canon' now or something?" You ask. 

"Well, in the grand scheme of things..." Xefros muses, "I think yeah, that's probably a good way of putting it. We've exited canon. We exist on the edge but we float outside of it. The problems of the Universe are no longer ours for the most part. I mean... Alternia's been a pretty chill Galaxy since we beat English. We haven't needed to fight major battles. The teams that do just go out and explore are doing that, exploring. We've... won? Haven't we earned our rest and relaxation by now?" 

"Civilian Life as a Metaphor for Canonical non-relevance," you muse. "Or the reverse. Whichever perspective you want to think about it as. I just... I feel like I should still have the spotlight somehow, you know?"

"Well, you're a Light-bound person, so I can't fault you for wanting that," Xefros muses. "But... wasn't what we wanted to begin with a life where we didn't have to fight and could just live? Wasn't that the whole point? We've... we've gotten that. Except for what Okurii mentions during lunch or dinner or whatever get-together we have, I've stopped generally paying attention to everything. I'm helping Baizil raise her alternate verse self and sister when I can, even if she scolds me for spoiling them. And Salazl's always just... been on the edge as it was, you know?"

"No?" You frown. "Where'd you get this idea from?"

"He mentioned it to me during one of our work-dates on that project of ours," Xefros says in as exactly as little detail as possible, intentionally, you feel like. "He's said that even when we were crashing down after Trizza abandoned us... he felt like a background character the entire time. Sure, he did stuff for everyone and did a lot of stuff, but even when it was just the group of us out in the desert on our own... You know he said he felt like he'd been replaced with another background character when Zebede came in to work console?"

"Seriously?" You ask. "No, geeze, I never realized. He felt that way. He was always kinda quiet when we hung out most of the time except for when he had something to say."

"And he's done a lot of impressive work for us," Xefros says, "Hell, Atlantis is still using his compression algorythms for data bursts and such. But... you know, it's just... I dunno if I'm betraying his confidence to say stuff like this or not, but he felt like an observer a lot of the time. Just, watching, seeing what crazy insane stunt we'd come up with next. And it was always somebody doing something crazy and impressive and topping the next and the next..." He shakes his head again. "But he said he liked it like that. Being in the background. Observing. But that didn't mean he felt safe. A lot of the times, he told me he felt like when things got really close to home that he had some giant death scythe hanging over his head."

"What?" you ask. "What'd he mean by that?"

"Okay, so, this is... like," Xefros closes his eyes, laughs hollowly. "Borderline psychic nightmare territory, but he said he had dreams about being onboard the Prometheus, confronting Anubis at the Supergate over Alternian, for *weeks* before we even started drafting the plan seriously. And a lot of weird details matched, like the moons being gone, and the plan to cause the Gate to Kawoosh and kill Anubis... the Ultrazord brawling with English down on Alternia."

"Woah, seriously?" You ask. "What happened in the dream then?"

"He said he sacrificed himself in the dream to make sure that everyone kept getting out safe when the Prometheus got caught up in the Supergate Kawoosh."

"...Damn, that's... Kind of horrible, isn't it?" You ask. "He never mentioned that to any of us."

"No, he felt like that if that was how he was going to go out, that was how he was going to be remembered and he'd do it that way," Xefros pauses. "Of course, things didn't turn out that way at all. And then when everything started quieting down, well... you know how things have gone between me and him, at any rate."

You nod.

"You know? He's been talking about adopting a grub, too," Xefros continues. "I think he really likes just... having a nice, calm, peaceful life now without some sword of doom hanging over his head." He pauses, then adds, "I really like not having a sword of doom hanging over our heads too, anymore."

You think about it.

"...That's awfully meta, Xef."

"I know."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ever had one of those days where nothing goes right?
> 
> Me, for example? I just learned earlier today that there's definitely a couple of types of mold that I've been exposed to for almost all my life that I'm almost certainly allergic to, given that one of which there's a precedence for allergies to within my family! So. Yeah. News like that kinda... snowballed my whole day into chaos. I haven't gotten any writing done at all and it's 4:00 PM as of the time I'm writing this. I have no idea how to even react to this, let alone advise how to *fix* regarding any factor of it! Good grief. 
> 
> Tomorrow's going to be busy. Might be a delayed chapter upload depending on how late I'm out dealing with IRL stuff. 
> 
> I wonder how I'll look back on this moment months from now, or even years from now?
> 
> Who knows. Certainly feels like this day's gone on for weeks already as it is.


	30. SGA:03X09: Phantoms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Developments abound, and there's no kill like overkill.

**EARTH DATE: JUNE 22ND, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 12/31/0005.**  
  
"Huh," you are now Tyzias Entykk, and you blink at an email notification. "Dimensional Activity again?"

You open the email and get a report from Mckay's Lantea Satellite. After everything that happened there with the other dimension, it's been deemed important to continue observing the area, not just for the whole over-written space-time thing...

Except... Well.

"Huuuh." You blink again. "How about that?"

It seems that given a proper vent into another dimension, that "over-written" space time would gladly "Un-Write" itself. 

Through a rapidly growing 'tear' in that fabric of formerly ZPM contained space time, Mckay's sensors are picking up signs of Lantea itself residing in the place it always should have been.

You open a new email and begin writing to certain people.

"We're going to have to rethink everything about the other ZPM Overwrite Sites," you mutter. "Hell, they're not even overwrites! They're-!"

* * *

 

"Masking Layers?" Mikari Aiikho repeats as you inform her of the discovery.

"Yes, Ma'am," you nod. "Like how in a graphical arts program, you have layers to draw on. One layer goes on top of the other. With how we've been observing the ZPM Containment Failures that have happened before- whole sections of space time appearing to be overwritten by the space contained within the ZPMs- we've assumed that these layers were being made, and, essentially, merged down on top of what was already existing, overwriting whatever wasn't able to peek through."

"But that's not the case then, if Lantea is still existing behind the curtain," Mikari muses. 

"Exactly," you nod. "In a sort of weird, 2d-3d mesh of a paradox, we're essentially looking at the equivalent of one of those weird internet GIFs where an artist erases a layer ontop of another layer, revealing what's beneath."

"So the layers aren't merged, we're just observing a perspective where we can't toggle the layers on or off," Mikari summarizes. "Or erase through to a lower layer? I suppose?"

"Essentially, yes," you nod.

"I'll tell Rodney we received this intel from his satellite when he gets back then," Mikari says. 

"Um, where is Doctor Mckay anyways?" You ask.

"Off world with AR-1 and some Marines helping the Genii track down one of their exploration teems that failed to check in," Mikari answers. "Sora requested we help, considering there was suspected Wraith Activity on the planet."

"Well, I hope things go okay for them, then," you say.

"Don't we all," Mikari nods. "So... You want to go check it out in person then?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" You nod. "Very much so."

"Take the Aurora," Mikari authorizes. "I hear Keiko's been itching to take her for a proper spin around the neighborhood given some of the recent repairs and upgrades she's made."

"I've heard just the same," you crack a grin. "I'll go let her know!"

* * *

 

**O < \--- [STARGATE: ATLANTIS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0) \--- >O**

* * *

 

The Aurora dropped out of Hyperspace, once again approaching the place Lantea once had resided... and still did.  
  
"Oh well that is just freaky," Your name is Mallek Adalov, and before you resides a large tear in the fabric of reality, or rather... a tear in the fabric of reality that had been draped over your normal layer of space time.

"Tell me about it," Keiko remarks from the Aurora's control chair. "That's just... Wow. So weird."

Through that zig-zagged tear in space time, you can literally see a planet covered in water.

"And we're sure we're not just seeing through to that other reality Mckay went to, right?" Daraya asks.

"We're not receiving any radio signals, or seeing any signs of Atlantis proper residing down on the planet," Tyzias reports. "Scans also indicate there's some debris consistent with a City Ship that's crash landed on the mainland continent. Looks like it's the ship we punched a hole through."

"So... this is our Lantea for sure," you surmise.

"Damn," Daraya chuckles, "and here I was hoping I'd get a chance to meet myself. I Keep missing out on those runins with other selves."

"It's not all its cracked up to be," Keiko laments. "Sometimes you just don't get along. Sometimes you do."

"How are Silica and the others doing, by the way?" You ask.

"Oh, you know, the same old same old," Keiko shakes her head. "Nothing nearly quite as interesting as this is." 

"We should take a Jumper in close to the rift to get some better readings," Tyzias suggests. "if we can replicate what's dissolving this Masking Space Layer in other places, we might be able to retrieve the Prometheus' remains, for example. Or undestroy that solar system Mckay blew up."

"Or go and check the damage for some of those places back in Alternia where things got blown up," Daraya says.

"You know," you muse, "we should have realized something like this was the case given that temple with the broken Quantum Mirror phase-shifting everything."

"Mmh," Keiko nods, then takes to the ship's radio. "Lorne, Zelenka. AR-2's taking a jumper down to the rift to get some better scan readings. Hold the fort while we're gone."

"Understood, Miss Ayano," Lorne answers. "We'll keep things tidy."

With a nod from Keiko, you all head for the Jumper bay. 

Within a few minutes, you're heading out towards the rift in the 'Masking Space Layer' as Tyzias had coined it.

Keiko flies, Tyzias scans, you and Daraya...

Talk.

"So, how're you holding up?" You ask.

"Hm? You mean with the two islands on the moon we're staying on having volcanoes erupting and spewing magma everywhere?" Daraya asks in turn, trying to keep her cool. She's failed, considering her left leg is bouncing a bit now that you've brought the subject up. "Oh, I'm doing JUST fine. What do you think, Mallek?" 

"So, about the same?" You ask.

She sighs. "Depends on the day. Considering the explosive smoke shit is pretty localized to those islands and we're nowhere near it, I can sometimes forget about it. But... The smoke still gets to me, some days, if I go outside. I can smell it in the air. Sets me off if I'm outside for too long."

"Well," you say, "if we're lucky we'll be taking off and heading out again within a few weeks."

"Maybe," she huffs. "I'm just... I don't like it. I'm dealing but I don't like it. Getting out like this helps, though."

"Well, as long as we can get out frequently enough-" you're cut off by Tyzias exclaiming:

_"HAHAHA! SUCK IT HEISENBERG UNCERTAINTY PRINCIPLE! SUUUUUUUCK IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT!!!!"_

You, Daraya, and Keiko all turn to look at the tealblood, grinning excitedly at her computer as she taps away at it. 

"...Want to share with the class, Tyzi?" Keiko asks.

And thus Tyzias proceeds to explain that one of the various types of exotic particles created by the whole rift situation that had stuck around afterwards had become engaged in  a VERY energetic reaction when exposed to the formerly ZPM contained space and Zillyum energy, and was essentially serving as a sub-spatial acid against the Masking Space Layer.

...And it was also completely violating the Uncertainty Principle by not only being easily identified in its positioning in space, but also at the speed at which it was moving.

And there were a lot of these particles chowing down on the masking space layer the ZPMs had jettisoned onto reality, moving around rapidly along the edges, slowly, slowly, slowly, eating more and more and more...

But they weren't growing at all, paradoxically, nor multiplying. 

The ZPM masking space layer was just being completely erased. 

"So it's like a very hungry grub snacking down on everything it can before molting," Daraya summarizes. 

"Mmh," Tyzias nods. "At the rate they're going, I'd say it'd take atleast two years for them to completely erase the Masking Space Layer. Maybe longer if we harvest the particles for use elsewhere."

And then, as Tzyais descended into mumblings about how to do such harvesting, an alarm sounded from the Jumper's main console.

Keiko tapped at a button on the console and up came the screen.

"Oh, that's not good."

"What's not?" You ask.

"Not sure," Keiko frowns. "I'm going to take us a bit closer to get some better readings..."

And thus, the Jumper edges closer to the edge in space-time where two layers of reality met...

"Crap." Keiko swore. "I'm picking up some Energy readings from the wrecked City now that we're closer to it. It looks like some Replicators survived and are trying to rebuild," a frown spreads on her face. "It looks like they're consuming parts of the forest lanscape for raw materials."

"Plant based mech city?" Daraya frowns. "Can't see how that'll work."

"They might be able to repurpose the raw materials like our Replicators could, to some degree," you frown. "Or something else. Either way, we shouldn't leave them be."

"No, we shouldn't," Keiko turns the Jumper around. "Let's regroup with the Aurora and contact Atlantis."

* * *

 

You are now Keiko Ayano, and after some quick discussion of what to do with Atlantis...

You sit down in the Aurora's control chair, lock onto the remains of the Asuran City with the weapons system, and fire off a volley of drones.

They slip through the rift, descend towards the planet below, and then smash into the remains of the city, blasting it all to pieces. 

When the sensors read the first wave has left remnants behind, you blast it again.

You wait. 

Still some remains.

You blast it again, third times the charm.

This time, there's nothing left.

You fire again once more just to be on the safe side.

By the time you've finished, the Aurora's drones have been depleted to half stock, and there's a large impact crater now filled with smaller craters and surrounded by even more craters.

"We'll leave another satellite to observe," you decide. "If any of those damned things survived, we'll wipe them out again."

* * *

 

The Aurora begins its return to Atlantis some time later, after a bit more observation of the physics interactions going on that brought you all here to begin with when you're requested to be redirected to another planet.

AR-1, half of a Marine Squad, Doctor Beckett and a Genii are stuck without a working Stargate DHD, and needs pickup.

You ask what happened to the DHD and the answer? Someone blew the damned thing up because of a Wraith built Mass Halucination Device.

Lovely. Lovely that.

You change the Aurora's course, and then go to chill with your team in the Aurora's equivalent of a crew relaxation area.

"So," you report, "We're on our way to pick up AR-1 who had a Thrilling encounter with a Wraith Halucination Device."

"Oof," Tyzias winces. "What about the Genii soldiers who went there first?"

"Most are Dead," you shake your head. "They killed eachother in a panic, save for the guy who rigged the DHD to explode, which apparently killed one of them. There was one survivor, though, whether or not he's ever going to make a full mental recovery or not is debatable."

"Not a pleasant way to go," Tyzias shakes her head. 

"Not a pleasant way indeed," Mallek agrees with a nod.

"Mikari's putting the team on mandatory vacation leave for two weeks," you say. "Once we pick them up, of course."

"What about the Wraith device?" Daraya asks.

"Shut down, and I've got orders to nuke the thing from orbit once we get everyone off world," you answer.

"Sweet," Daraya whistles. "That's pretty fun."

Lorne and Zelenka enter the room then- Lorne asking, "What's pretty fun?"

"Blowing up Wraith Tech from Orbit," you say, and then repeat everything important for them to know.

"...Dang. Sheppard's team sure gets into a lot of scrapes, don't they?" Lorne asks.

"Ah, shame we have to destroy such a device. To possibly turn it back on the Wraith Themselves would be an interesting concept," Zelenka shakes his head. "Ah well. Probably for the best we don't keep such a thing around."

"So," Mallek changes subjects. "Did you hear Carter thinks we could run the first legitimate test of the new Gate Bridge within the next few weeks?"

"Oh?" Zelenka asks. "Have they finished seeding the Stargates?"

"Alternian make and Model from here to both Galaxies," Mallek nods. "Considering the Gate Priority Security issues we were running into with the Pegasus Models."

"Hm? What was that?" Daraya asks.

"Yeah, I'm kinda out of the loop there too," Lorne agrees.

"Well, see, Pegasus Model Stargates are the newest model of Stargate designed by the Ancients, so older models, such as the Milky Way Stargates will ceed priority access of coordinates to a Pegasus Model Gate," Zelenka explains. "This includes Dialing out as well as dialing in. A pre-existing Milky Way Stargate will simply shut down if a Pegasus Gate is in close proximity."

"Wait, so what does that mean if we ever bring Atlantis to Earth then it's Stargate shuts down?" Lorne asks. "What about if you bring another Pegasus Gate to the same location as an existing gate?"

"The exact same will occur- priority is ceeded to the newly arrived Stargate," Zelenka nods. "We have no idea why the Ancients designed it that way except for as aera of denial against Wraith Targets, nor do we have any idea of how it functions in the Milky Way Stargates. There isn't a command code to shut down, so the feature must be broadcast from a Pegasus Gate instead."

"What about Alternian Stargates?" Daraya asks.

"Ah now there is an interesting case study," Zelenka says. "Bizzarely enough, despite being based off of the older Milky Way Gates, Pegasus Gates seem to interpret Alternian Gates as an even NEWER model of Stargate and shut down in their proximity instead. Likely the Ancients programed ahead for future compatibility in this case. Meanwhile, The Alternian Stargates don't recognize the Pegasus Stargates as existant at all with regards to shut down priority."

"So Alternian Gates are the way to go as far as Bridges go?" You ask, in summary.

"Essentially," Zelenka nods. "Furthermore, they are vastly more modifyable in terms of code base, being able to be broken off into subnetworks within an existing network. Plus Order of access or denial can be set specifically to work in different ways as opposed to it being hard coded. Which is a godsend of an idea considering that it would have prevented the Ancients from ever being locked out of a Gate at any point in time."

"Go Callie," Tyzias smirks at that.

"You know," you muse, "I wonder if that's what spawned my dimension's timeline? Beyond Jade convincing them, I mean. A Wraith got the smart idea to hoist a Gate into the galaxy and held it over the Ancients heads, locking their Gate down and preventing evacuation that way?"

"That could be a mitigating factor, couldn't it?" Tyzias muses.

You all sit in silence for a moment, processing that possibility.

"I think we should consider replacing the local Atlantis gate with an Alternian gate," you say. "First chance we get."

Nobody says anything else after your suggestion except, for Zelenka remarking "How would we remove it from the floor, though?"

Silence. Silence.

"...It is pretty stuck in the floor, isn't it?" Daraya asks.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: JUNE 24TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 01/02/0006.**

You are once again Mallek Adalov, and you are working on modifying a small subset of Control Crystals within the Atlantis Stargate for the Midway Project launch, Keiko is checking to see how easy it would be to remove the Stargate from the floor itself.

"Seriously, how did the Ancients do this?" Keiko asks, stomping at the floor. "There's no seams in the floor around the Gate itself! The only way we'd ever get the Gate out is if we dug a huge crater in the floor!"

"There has to be something," you say, glancing up from your work. "The Ancients had to have some way of doing it. Maybe... Hrm. Maybe you have to ask the floor to lift up?"

"Like... think it to open like we can fly the Jumpers?" Keiko asks, musing on it. "Alright. I'll give it a try as soon as you're finished with the Gate."

You nod, finish your work, and then take several major steps away from where you suspect the floor might just raise up and apart.

Keiko outstretches her hand and then closes her eyes in thought, interfacing with the city, and then-

_**CLINK- HISSSSS!** _

A large pillar raises from the center of the floor in front of the Stargate.

"...Well THAT wasn't what I wanted," Keiko remarks. "But at least we know that's there now."

"What is it?" You ask, moving over to the pillar that had risen.

"Looks like a palm scanner console," Keiko muses, examining it. "I wonder if this is what controls the Gate release?"

She touches the panel atop the pillar, and a shudder of some command ripples through the floor. 

But... nothing else happens after that, save for the pillar retreating into the floor..

"...Weird," Keiko muses. "Must be jammed."

"Probably," you say, even as you stare at the place on the floor that should have visible seams where it split open, but doesn't. "Oh well, a Mystery for another time."

You shrug, Keiko shrugs as well, and you both write it off as a jammed terminal to get someone to look at later.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter to go up will be a revamped chart of the nebulous connections everyone has to everyone else. Less a family tree and more...
> 
> Well.  
> It's....  
> A....  
> GREAT BIG WEB OF EVERYTHING*, pretty much.
> 
> (*=I've probably forgotten some characters and how they fit in, but in my defense I ran out of room.)


	31. ARTWORK: It's the Great Big Web of Everything!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Revamped the old “family tree” to make it less a family tree and more a… giant web of connections between everyone in the story. XD
> 
> That said, there’s probably some connections I missed out on putting here. I ran out of room.


	32. SGA:03X10: The Return (Part 1 Part A)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time is Relative.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: Due to IRL shenanigans, this chapter is going up early, and there likely will not be another update until Thursday or Friday, best case, or Monday, Worst Case. I apologize for the cliffhanger.

**EARTH DATE: JUNE 29TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 01/07/0006.**  
  
The sudden exclamation of-

"Great flying fudge covered pizza wheels sawblading towards a roller skate derby tournament!!! WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED HERE!?!?!?"

-Suddenly brought the entire Atlantis Cafeteria to a grinding halt as all eyes darted towards the kitchen area.

"Bwuh??"

Boldir Lamati and Diemen Xicali shook their heads apologetically to the whole cafeteria.

"CANDIED PINEAPPLE PIZZAS. Why would you do THIS!? Pineapple doesn't go on pizzas! Let alone CANDIED PINEAPPLE!"

Marinette and Shirou were arguing over technique again.

"Well excuse me for actually making something to order for someone!"

Wait.

"...Wait. Someone Ordered this!?"

Ah, damn it.

"Of course! You'd think I'd make this of my own free will!?"

Argument over. And so everyone shook their heads and got back to what they were doing.

"Who! I demand to know WHO!!!"

Just another average Saturday on Atlantis.

* * *

 

"Look, all I have to say is that instigating an argument in the cafeteria for entertainment is going to backfire," Tagora Gorjek remarked as his cohort nearly giggled her head off.

Nearly, because giggling ones head off was an impossible feat.

But, well, he was sure Aradia Megido would try to do it before Shirou and Marinette got their hands on-

_**"YOOOOOU!"** _

The two irate chefs slid into the hallway, glaring daggers at the rust blooded troll from another dimension.

 _"Meeee!"_ Aradia grins.

And then she runs.

And then Shirou and Marinette run after her, brandishing rolling pins and salt bags.

"YOU GOTTA PAY FOR THAT PIZZA!" Shirou demanded. "$24.99! FOR WORK! PARTS! AND LABOR!!"

"AND YOU'LL PAY FOR THE SUGGESTION TOO!" Marinette added. "PINEAPPLES SHOULDN'T BE CANDIED EVER!!! $33.33 INSANITY TAX!!!"

Tagora Gorjek could only just whistle at the speeds at which the three of them were running. "And they say *I* Nickel and Dimed people back on Alternia?" He laughed, shook his head, and watched the show.

Just another average Saturday on Atlantis.

* * *

 

Ronon Dex watched, and waited for his turn as Teyla Emmagan trained with some Jaffa soldiers from another Galaxy.

Staffs swung, clacked against eachother, and Teyla stood center of the storm as she taught all of these warriors the true meaning of the Athosian fighting style.

Ronon smiled faintly as he watched her wipe the floor with the Jaffa, knocking them all flat on their backs with a single floor-level full circle staff swipe.

Just another average Saturday on Atlantis.

* * *

Jimmyy O'neill and Roxy Lalonde sat at a pier over looking the new ocean Atlantis had settled on- fishing rods extended and lines going deep into the ocean.

With a sudden tug on the line, Roxy beamed, and began reeling his line in.

...Much to his annoyance, however, he reeled in yet another giant mechanical fish that glared at him with annoyed, red eyes framed behind a rusted metal mask.

"For cryin' out loud," Jimmyy remarked. "Not another one."

"Ugh!" Roxy triggered a small add on to the rod, and the line briefly electrified, zapping the mecha-fish and causing it to let go of the line. "I don't think there are any real fish in this ocean!"

"Me either," Jimmyy agreed.

It was... Well, not your average Saturday on Atlantis for these two.

* * *

Argo Lalonde smiled brightly as they announced to Mikari Aiikho the day's activities, finally reaching the last point- "And we just heard back from Daedalus, they'll be approaching the Midway Station within the next few minutes."

"Good," Mikari nods. "Go let John known he's cleared to begin the final prepwork for the test."

"Got it!" Argo nods, and with a smile, they skip off to go find John Sheppard up in the Jumper Bay.

Today was going to be a monumental day that hopefully became just the average Saturday for Atlantis.

* * *

 

[ **O < \--- STARGATE: ATLANTIS --- >O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0)

* * *

 

"Alright, everyone!" Your name is Morgan Carter- once Samantha Carter but cloned and turned young by a raving Asguard- and you and Rodney Mckay stand before the group of scientists gathered on the Daedalus' bridge, along with the usual bridge crew. "We're about to begin the first test dialing of the Mckay-Carter Intergalactic Gate Bridge Project."

"How this works!" Mckay points at the screen behind you. "We have fifteen Stargates seeded from each Galaxy, at the maximum possible distance away from eachother that a Stargate can Dial without the connection being Extra-galactic. They converge here, at a Midway point between Milky Way, Pegasus, and Alternia."  
"The Gates are built with custom DHD programming and can only dial out in one direction in either direction save for the gates at the very end of the line in the respective Galaxies, which can dial out to a single specific Seven Address Gate, and can only RECEIVE input from that single specific Gate Address," you continue.

"Namely, Earth, Atlantis, and a single space-bound facility over the remains of Alternia that can only be accessed by the BC-304 Beltus."

"These Special Gates are Space Bound within each Galaxy," Mckay continues, "and they do NOT interact with any of the local Gate Networks, running within their own specialized networks, as it were. Today's test will be to see if these gates function as intended."

You take over again, "Atlantis will dial to the first special Midway Gate, and if all works as designed, that Gate will then store the matterstream within its buffer, connect to the next gate down the line, and so on and so on down the line until it reaches the Midway Station, currently under construction and rough-framed in at the present moment."

Said station proudly sits outside the Daedalus' front windshield- a circular ring frame within which a large, Y shaped superstructre sits within, three specialized eight chevron stargates reside at each end. Branching off from the middle are three frameworks for other rooms within the station, making an inverted Y shape super imposed behind it.

"Total travel time from one Galaxy to another will be 30 minutes," Mckay continues. "Now, we also have to take into account the possibility of a Gate Failure to Connect. These reasons may be many, including, but not limited to improper passcode authorization, or another connection being sent down the line from the other direction which should not be happening under normal circumstances. In such instances, passengers in-transit are to be automatically deposted at periodic isolation Stations. These stations are to be last resort stop gaps incase of system failure, or malicious attack. During normal operation they are to be inaccessable."

"While John Sheppard will be dialing from Atlantis to Midway, another test we are running today is Keiko Ayano dialing in from Milky Way to Midway, from there, she will divert to Alternia, and Sheppard will be dialing on ahead to Milky Way." You elaborate. "Ayano's test will be of the improper passcode authorization security lockout, and if all goes according to plan she will drop out mid-way to Alternia where the Astro Megaship is already waiting in position to monitor. If she continues through to Alternia, that is a fail of the test rather than a success."

"Now given that all of these stations are currently exposed to hard vaccum and have no sustainable internal atmosphere, while under normal operation, these stations are to be ground bound only, but for the purposes of this test are being conducted by Puddle Jumper," Mckay says. "Sheppard is in Jumper One, Ayano is in Jumper Two. During future tests once we have the stations built, we will be testing the isolation protocols more thoroughly, but for today, this is simply the proof of Concept. Now then, any questions?"

Nobody raises their hands.

"Okay, then," Mckay nods. "Looks like we're ready to go then."

You check your watch. "Dialouts happening.... Now."

* * *

In two locations, two Puddle Jumpers lowered down from the ceilings as the Stargates dialed out.

One two three four five chevrons, KAWOOOSH!

"Midway Macro Loaded," John Sheppard radioed. "Coordinates locked."

"Ready to depart," Keiko Ayano radioed.

"Godspeed," Landry confirmed.

"Good luck, John," Mikari radioed.

And then two Jumpers departed Earth and Atlantis.

The wormholes warped, and warped, and warped, and warped, faster, faster, faster, faster, jumping location to location to location and then-

Fifteen Minutes Later, two of the three Midway Station's Stargates simultaneously KAWOOSHED open, and the two Puddle Jumpers emerged.

"Jumpers One and Two, welcome to Midway," Caldwell radioed down. "How was the trip?"

"Thank you, sir," Sheppard shook his head and shuddered his shoulders. "It's a bit of a rush. Really trippy."

"Liiiittle trippier than usual, yeah," Keiko remarked, moving her Jumper forwards towards the remaining inactive Stargate and moving into position. "Ready to begin next stage of the test?"

* * *

 

"Mckay, Carter?" you are now Colonel Stephen Caldwell, and you ask the two scientists.

"I think we're good to go," Carter says, "Rodney?"

Rodney Mckay stares at a tablet of data readouts.

"Doctor Mckay?" You ask.

"Huh? What? Oh, yeah, go right ahead and launch through." He nods.

You give the go ahead. "Mckay and Carter give the goaheads, dial out when ready."

 _"Roger that, Sir,"_ Sheppard answers.

* * *

 

Seven and a half minutes later, you are now Tegiri Kalbur, and you watch as the specifically selected Isolation Station's Stargate activates.

Now to see what happens, does it shut down or-?

SCHLORP! Out emerges Jumper Two.

You radio, "Jumper Two, this is Astro Mega. Mission success?"

 _"Yes, Sir,"_ Keiko replies. _"Preparing for reparation sequence to continue through to Alternia Proper..."_

You watch as the Jumper begins to spin on the spot as the Gate shuts down.

Once she leaves, you'll have the Astro Megaship follow through in Hyperspace back to Alternia.

* * *

 

Seven Minutes after that, you are General Hank Landry, and you smile as a Puddle Jumper exits through the Earth Stargate.

"Jumper One," you radio, "welcome to Earth."

 _"Thanks, General,"_ Sheppard replies with a nod. _"I'm just going to park it now for the moment and pick up that special pizza delivery we arranged."_

You nod. "You do that, Colonel."

* * *

 

About a minute later, Jumper Two emerged within the framework station floating above the remains of the planet Alternia.

The BC-304 BELTUS hovered in orbit nearby.

"Jumper Two, welcome to Alternia Base," your name is General Okurii Leijon, and you can't help but smile at the successful test of the connections.

Finally, after the Rift severed contact... Gate Travel to Earth has been restored.

* * *

 

You are now Rodney Mckay, and you suppose it's been 15 minutes now because you're drawn out of your reverie as the Midway Gate from Milky Way opens again and Jumper 1 returns.

You're asked about something or other and you just wave them on to conclude the test because you've got bigger fish to fry.

Over the last few months as this project was being put together, you started detecting a Doppler shift of some kind of signal slowly making its way out of Pegasus and heading towards Milky Way.

But now, you've finally figured it out.

"Colonel Caldwell, once Colonel Sheppard's ferried through to Atlantis, we need to divert course and head to new coordinates," you say. "I think I've just detected a ship moving a just under faster-than-light speeds from Pegasus to Milky Way. We should intercept to get scan readings, just incase its Wraith."

Caldwell and Carter stare at you, shocked at the speeds you're reporting.

* * *

 

 **"How exactly does a ship move at almost the speed of light?"** your name is Jolinar of the altered future, and you muse aloud as you and your partner stare at the readings Mckay picked up with the Daedalus's sensors.

"If it's powered by a ZPM, possibly very easily," Mckay answers. "If it's an ancient Battleship, the Hyperdrive may be damaged, forcing them to travel to Earth at near light-speed velocities. Realistically, it'd take a few thousand years to make their destination, but it'd barely be a few years for them relativisticly, less given Stasis chambers."

 **"Ah, of course,"** you say. **"And if it's a Wraith ship?"**

"If it's a Wraith Ship, then who the fuck cares, we blow them up," Morgan counters.

"Fair enough," Mckay agrees.

After a few minutes, the Daedalus arrives in position to intercept the incoming vessel.

"We're moving at as fast of a velocity as our sublight engines can handle, Doctor Mckay," Caldwell starts. "Let's just hope it's enough to get them to stop and roll down their window."

"An apt metaphor," Mckay chuckles. "Alright. They'll be in range in 3, 2..."

The sensors read a blur of a high speed velocity _SOMETHING_ rushing past, and gone.

"...Looks like it's an Aurora class cruiser," Mckay reads the results. "...And they're stomping hard on the breaks."

"Would you look at that," Morgan muses as the dot rapidly slows down, down down... "I can practically hear the tires squealing."

"It's going to definitely burn out their engines stopping that fast," Mckay says. "They're taking a major risk hoping we're not hostile."

"We aren't," Caldwell says. "But even so-"

"We're being hailed," Marks reports. "...Same broadwave frequency as Asgard Hologram-"

There's a flicker and a woosh of light, and the image of a woman appears there on the bridge.

"...Transmissions," Marks finishes quietly as the woman starts to speak.

 _"Unknown Vessel, I am Captain Helia of the Lantian Warship Tria,"_ Captain Helia introduces herself. _"Our ship has suffered damage. We've scanned your vessel and determined that it is capable of hyperspace travel. We've begun deceleration maneuvers. Will you render assistance in the form of hyperspace transport?"_

"Of course we will!" Mckay exclaims.

The hologram doesn't reply.

"I don't think she can hear us unlike the Asgard transmissions," Morgan muses.

"Open a channel," Caldwell orders, and Marks nods. "This is Colonel Stephen Caldwell of the Earth Ship Daedalus. It would be an honor to render any Assistance in any way we possibly can."

The holographic woman smiles, _"That is great news to hear. And Earth? I am amazed to hear that you have developed space-faring vessels in such a short amount of time... Or perhaps it has been longer than we thought. Either way, your assistance is appreciated."_

And with that, she cuts the holographic transmission.

"I can't believe it," Mckay squeals. "We're gonna meet Ancients! Flesh and blood Ancients who know what everything is and how everything works! I have no idea what to even ask first!"

 **"It'll take us a few hours before we match speeds,"** you observe. **"That should give you time to write out a list."**

"Ah, right," Mckay nods. "That's, ah, a good point!"

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: JUNE 30TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 01/08/0006.**

Your name is Keiko Ayano, and you listen with rapt attention as Mikari leads you, John, Ronon, and Teyla towards the Gate room, explaining how the Tria had been battlescarred and already on their way to earth when their Hyperdrive gave out on them, and decided it was best to continue forwards than go back.

"How many survivors?" Ronon asks.

"Just over a hundred," MIkari answers.

Teylas speaks, excitedly, "Word has already begun to spread amongst my people. They believe this return was foretold; that it marks the turning in the tide in the war against the Wraith."

John scoffs. "I wouldn't know about that."

You arrive at the Gate Room, and Mikari looks up to Argo, who reports, "The Daedalus is ready to beam down our people and the Ancient Delegation."

"Thank you," Mikari nods, and zips up her jacket so as to be presentable.

Bregman's crew, already here and set up, starts recording.

And then there's a PVVVM-SHING! And then Mckay, Carter, and five Ancients appear infront of the Gate.

The Captain of the ship pauses upon seeing Mikari, and then composes herself. Shocked, you guess. Then, she catches sight of your wolf ears and does another double take, as do some of the others of her crew.

"Mikari, John, Ronon, Teyla, Keiko, this is Helia, Captain of the Ancient Ship, Tria," Carter introduces.

"It's an honor to meet you," Mikari bows slightly.

"Thank you," Helia says, trying to remain composed. "I find it hard to believe that so many different cultures would come here to Atlantis, but from what I'm told you've done a remarkable job of preserving the city."

"We did what we could with what we had," John remarks.

"I need to speak to the leader of your people," Helia starts.

"I'm in charge of the Atlantis Expedition," Mikari starts-

"You misunderstand me, Miss Aiikho," Helia says. "I need to speak to the one who represents this conglomerate of an alliance, or failing that, those who can speak for your individual groups."

"That can be arranged," Mikari starts, "But may I ask why?"

Instead of answering, Helia waves her hand over the floor and that danged control console rises from the floor again.

Mckay jumps back in shock. "Woah!"

"Excuse me, but what's going on?" MIkari asks.

"Thank you for all that you've done, Miss Aiikho, but your guardianship over this city is nolonger necessary," Helia places her hand on the console and-

_**BZZZT.** _

It buzzes angrily at her.

"...Huh?" She stares down at the console, raises her hand briefly and places it down again.

_**BZZZT.** _

Then, Helia asks, "Who is 'Administrator Ayano' and why does she have Higher Administrative Privlidge than I do?"

All you can say is- "Huh. So that's what that thing does." -as the apparent ADMINISTRATOR CONTROL CONSOLE sinks back down into the floor.

"I think we should probably take this to the Conference room," Mikari wisely advises as a sort of tension fills the room. "Argo?" She calls up, "Would you send Chuck to go notify Earth that we're going to need General O'neill and General Leijon to make an appearance? Egeria and Teal'c too, if they're available."

"Yes, Ma'am," Argo nods, and scurries away.

"It seems there is a lot we must discuss," Helia frowns.

You head to the conference room and the Ancients follow, nervously eyeing all the varried forms within the City. Humans, Alternians, Jaffa, and the various mutations that had formed just the same.

You suppose they are all very confused by the rampant non-uniformity of the people living here. Teyla's earlier enthusiasm has vanished, and she and Ronon both are eyeing the Ancients with some hesitant looks to their faces.

The Camera crew follows as well, cameras running the whole time in silence.

You're sure Bregman's going to have some lovely narration to fit over this part of time.

You arrive in the conference room, and Helia asks the question that's surely on all the Ancient's minds- "I feel odd for asking this, and I mean no offense... But... why is everyone so... diverse? Physically? Animal ears, giant insectoid wings... the Grey Skin and Horns. That seems... beyond what evolution should allow."

"That would be because it's not natural evolution," Mikari begins. "Not too long ago, a woman stole a device we call a Quantum Mirror, and attached it to a Hyperdrive, attempting to jump between dimensions. It failed, and exploded, creating a rift in space time that began emitting a particle of energy we've dubbed Zillyum. This particle spread through the universe, activating long dormant chunks of DNA within various people across the galaxy, some were granted powers, others physical transformations, sometimes both. Rarer and rarer still are those unaffected."

"I suppose that makes sense," Helia says after exchanging glances with several of her top scientists, you'd guess. "I was told that your people come from various worlds," Helia starts, "I... I know it must feel strange for me to ask, and it is likely our soured experiences with the Wraith coloring my perceptions, but... were some of your people always vaguely insectoid like?"

"Yes, actually," Mikari nods, a bit hesitantly. "And I can understand that heistancy given your experiences with the Wraith. We know they evolved from the Iratus Bugs into humanoid form."

"...Iratus Bugs?" Helia asks. "I... believe I know what creature you mean. It was not... one of our finer moments."

"I'd imagine not," Mckay mutters, seemingly jaded over the fact that the Ancients just tried to take control of Atlantis from you.

"Many of my people have a similar disposition towards the Wraith. It... would feel wrong for many of them to even try settling back here in Atlantis," Helia says. "With you present. I mean. And I mean no offense by that."

"So, I guess the stunt you just tried to pull in the Gate Room was you trying to kick us out of the city?" You ask. Helia flinches, as do the others of her crew, remaining flustered and silent.

"My hope was for it to be only temporarily," Helia says. "I... We simply wished to return home. And now we find our home occupied by various people who are not of our kind and some of whom bear a passing resemblance to an enemy of our own creation." She shakes her head. "I didn't expect an Administrator to have allowed your presence here already, and for that I apologize."

Mikari glances at you, and you decide to vouch for your own sudden Administrator status, you guess. "As my people see it, Atlantis is as much our heritage as it is yours- as well as it is for the people who have come to live here."

"...Your people?" Helia looks to you. "You are Administrator Ayano?"

"Keiko Ayano, yes," you say. "I'm the Daughter of Bishop Ayano, from the Castle Ship Aincrad."

"A... Castle Ship?" Helia asks.

"Think Atlantis, except ten thousand kilometers wide, and then stacked up a hundred floors and shrinking as it goes higher and higher," you explain. "My mother was the lead engineering technician for the Ship's Engines, working for the Ruling Council. When we discovered the location of Atlantis, I volunteered to serve as representative for my people- who are also your people, to a degree. We are descended from survivors of the Siege of Atlantis."

In another world, sure, but she doesn't need to know that yet.

"...You highly outrank me, then," Helia stares. "I suppose the Genetic Credential System wouldn't change much in ten thousand years, would it?"

Evidently not.

"I must ask," one of the other Ancients speaks up. "Why are you the only... Administrator here in this city?" He hesitates on administrator, you suspect he was going to go for something else.

"My people are busy dealing with a crisis of our own at the moment," you say. "One of our Castle Ships fell due to sabotage, and the rest of the system has taken on damage from similar acts, threatening to bring down the others in the time since Atlantis was discovered. Atlantis is a bit of a historical relic to us by this point in time. A curiosity, sure, but it's not nearly as important to my people as it is to the others who have come to live here."

You sure as hell hope you can make this offer.

"I may be able to offer your people living space with mine, if you so wish to migrate there," you say.

Helia smiles, "Thank you, but, I am not sure yet if we will take you up on that offer." She starts, "There is the question of the Wraith that we must talk about still, however. It was our understanding that your arrival in this galaxy triggered their most recent awakening?"

Mckay coughs suddenly- several eyes including yours glance at him and he tries not to meet anyone's by staring firmly at his shoes.

"Well," John interjects, "it was our understanding from the political events going on in this Galaxy that their awakening prematurely was inevitable. Other people local to this Galaxy were preparing bombing runs on dormant Wraith Hiveships. Even if we'd came a month later, two years later, the Wraith would've woken up sooner or later."

"And besides that," you interject. "We're working on a solution to the Wraith problem with minimal loss of life."

"...You are?" Helia asks. "How?"

"By stripping the Irratus Bug DNA out of their systems, leaving them only human," you summarize. "A retro virus."

The Ancients all look at eachother, considering that, and then they decide they'd like to wait to continue talking until they have the leaders of your people here to talk.

It isn't long before General O'neill, General Leijon, Teal'c, Egeria, and Richard Woolsey of all people have gathered, and the discussions begin in earnest.

* * *

 

You are Mikari Aiikho, and hours later after the discussions have been had, Jack O'neill and Okurii Leijon arrive, grimaces on their faces.

"Well?" You ask.

"The Ancients are pretty insistent on wanting most of the Expedition to leave, even if just for a while," Okurii says. "They're willing to learn more about what we've been up to, and they're willing to teach us about what some of the systems can do, but they're being pretty specific about who they're willing to leave here."

"Basically, Humans Only so far, maybe only those with ATA Genes, and even THEN not even more than a single handful of people who aren't showing visible signs of changes from the Rift Zillyum," O'neill shakes his head. "Egeria and Teal'c are still trying to work them over on allowing Jaffa and Tok'ra representatives, but it's not... working out well, last I heard."

"So they're kicking most of the expedition out," you surmise.

"Basically," O'neill says. "Oh, but here's some good news! The Ancients are graciously allowing us to take the Tria with us along with the Aurora. They don't seem to even want it anymore."

"Atleast, For now," Okurii sighs. "If it's of any consolation, Keiko's world is offering a chance for the Expedition to come visit and see if any of the knowledge we've learned from Atlantis can be applied to their world, and Egeria and Teal'c have agreed that may be a good use of the Expedition's time until the Ancient's decide to allow us back in the city. So-"

"How long," you interject. "How long before we have to leave, and how long before we can come back?"

"I gave a tentative answer of 48 Hours for us to leave Atlantis," O'neill said, "as for whether or not when we can return..."

"That all depends on what the Ancients think of the state of our two Galaxies in addition to Pegasus," Okruii says. "Keiko's world has also offered them sanctuary there should they decide to leave Atlantis. Helia said that it shouldn't take them longer than three months to make that kind of decision."

"Three months!!?" you ask, incredulous. "Over fourteen Weeks!?  Do you know how much can change in one week around here, let alone three, or six? But FOURTEEN?"

"It's the best we could manage, Mikari," Okurii says. "They're in a fairly fish out of water scenario here. And as much as it pains us that things are changing like this... we can't do anything about it."

"They're open to negotiations," O'neill says. "And they know they're at a disadvantage here given Keiko apparently has higher Admin rights than they do. Go figure. Who knew the girl had it in her? I sure didn't."

"I don't like it," you say. "I don't like it at all."

"None of us do," O'neill says, glancing out at the Stargate. "But given the state of *everything* right now? Maybe it'll be for the best to let things shake out like this."

You work your jaw. "I don't believe you believe that for a second, sir."

"Yeah, well... Cassie's basically flying blind," he answers. "In two worlds, even. Damara's fogged up the windshield, somehow."

"The Diaspora Seers aren't having any better luck," Okurii says. "Or Terezi for that matter. Which is concerning."

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: JULY 2ND, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 01/10/0006.**

John, Jade, and Argo made the decision to stay in Pegasus with the Athosians. Ronon would also be staying with them all. The Alpha Site was being dubbed as New Athos in the mean time.

And while the rest of Atlantis began to evacuate through Gate and through book back to Earth or Diaspora, those three and their kid left to the Alpha Site early after saying their goodbyes.

And so with final halting looks over their shoulders each and every last person who went through the Gate stopped and stared at Atlantis' Gateroom, wondering if they would ever step foot inside those hallowed halls once again.

**[TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 1 PART B.]**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As mentioned above, IRL shenanigans are having me pretty busy this week. I'm still not even sure what I'm going to be doing, and so I'm calling a brief pause for this week. That's just how it goes, sometimes. T_T
> 
> On this chapter, this episode of Atlantis is frustrating because it has a SIX WEEK TIME GAP in the middle of the episode!!! I wasn't sure how to handle adapting this, but I felt that splitting the episode itself up into two parts and filling the span of time inbetween with SG-1 episodes was the best option. The next chapter was SUPPOSED to be a SG-1 chapter, leading into the season 10 mid-season break two parter, "The Quest" but, erhgh. 
> 
> Life has hounded me badly on these two. Constant interruptions to my writing flow... Sooo. Yeah. Not done with them yet. T_T Probably for the best to have a small pause anyhow. If only it weren't for this friggin cliffhanger. BLAH. Seriously, Life, just... seriously?
> 
> ...So much for avoiding unnecessary chapter bloat. T_T


	33. SG1:10X09/INTERMISSION: Company's Worth.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> And we're back. Again. (Again)

**EARTH DATE: JULY 3RD, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 01/11/0006.**

You are Jude Harley, and you awaken in the middle of the night to the sound of murmuring and twisting and turning next to you.

Before you can get your wits about you and shake her awake- Cassandra wakes up screaming - visions of things that could have happened springing forth not from her powers, but from her own imagination.

"Sssh! Cassie, I'm here," you hug her tight, and she cries into your arms about how badly the last mission could have gone.

The Odyssey had been captured on an investigative mission to observe the Lucian Alliance's slave trade. The hope had been to find the missing Mofang villagers and rescue them, but in the end it had been a trap by a splinter group within the Lucian Alliance- a splinter group that Damara had poked and prodded into forming, going by that one bastard's ramblings.

The Odyssey had been captured, and you and Cassie, and Jonas, Vala, and Rider captured along with it.

It was pure coincidence that Mitchel had been off-duty due to a cold. It was pure insanity that Mitchel had then later been able to pose as a Lucian Alliance lieutenant, infiltrate their inner circle, and had been there when they discovered the location of the Odyssey.

But you had no way of knowing any of that. Not when one of the Lucian Alliance man leading the whole thing  shot Colonel Emerson dead inorder to force you to repair the Odyssey so that it could be used to overthrow the current leader of the Alliance, who was stubbornly sticking to the belief that the Andromeda Ascendants would lead them to victory.

You were able to stall for long enough to get the crew free and overthrow the Lucian Alliance men running the show by way of Vala beaming the bastard-that-shot-Colonel-Emmerson into space.

And then the other Alliance ships showed up, demanded you surrender...

And then Mitchel somehow saved the day by deluding the Lucian Alliance ships there to turn on eachother, giving you the time needed to get the Odyssey's hyperdrive back online, Mitchel beamed back onboard, and abscond the hell out of there.

You'd just gotten back home to Earth a few hours ago, and Cassie had all but collapsed at that point. You'd all grown dependent on Cassie's vibes to navigate you through dark spots, even the lack of them as guide posts to maybe see your way through to victory... But it was really hurting Cassie more and more to be so blinded to the events going on around her.

"I hate this," she whimpers. "I hate being so blind. It sucks. It fucking sucks and I just want it to stop already."

Damara... not only was she blocking Cassie's ability to see the future- but other Seers as well were beginning to suffer the same fate and it was getting very.

Very.

VERY.

Frustrating.

The last solid vision of the future anyone had managed to get was Terezi, and she basically spelled out some impossible feat of 'Lord English reappearing alongside a Robotic Assistant and a blind Seer carrying a wallet full of corpses all walking into a Pterodactyl's shriek of revenge as it unzipped English's pants zippers to do unspeakable things to the three interlopers with a rather large fish.'

Needless to say, even Terezi found that outcome inprobable and assumed that Damara was messing with her just the same as she was everyone else because it was absurd even for her visions.

And really, all of this was the fault of the Andromeda Ascendants for trying to coerce the then-ghost into working for them, and even THEIR machinations had ground to a resounding halt thanks to Damara's actions.

Merlin's Weapon would solve one half of the problems, and given them the energy and focus to doubel down on the other half... hopefully.

Okay, well- you admit to yourself as you stroke at Cassie's back to try and sooth her down- maybe it was closer to thirds, if you counted Ba'al. Ba'al, the Andromeda, and Damara- three plucky little annoyances converging together into a single cohesive mess of a whole fucking prob-

Wait.

Cassie, too, freezes as if she realizes something. "Wait," she whispers. "I think I just figured something out."

"I think I did too," you say. "You first?"

"Well... The- the Lucian Alliance ships, three of them, combined into-"

"One cohesive whole?" You ask. She nods. "Okay, here's mine. I think the Gate Addresses for Castiana, Sahal, and Vagonbrei are-"

Your bedside table buzzes as two cellphones start going off.

Cassie fixes you with a look. A knowing look.

This isn't a coincidence.

You each answer your cellphones, you get Jonas, Cassie gets Rider.

They've both figured it out too--

And then Vala interrupts Jonas' call from his end, saying she TOO has figured it out from a dream.

Cassie soon hangs up, and then immediately calls Mitchel.

Go figure, he's figured it out as well.

Merlin's Weapon- the Sangraal- is located on a planet, the address of which is made up of symbols from each of those three worlds- Castiana, Sahal, Vagonbrei.

Needless to say, SG-1 assembles at the SGC in short order- with you and Cassie dropping off Penny with Davis and Karkat for the rest of the night- to see if your collectively spontaneously generated idea holds weight.

You bring up a basic sorting program for the Gate Address Database... and wouldn't you know it?

...Right as the clock strikes midnight and flips over to the next day, it turns out there's only one single Gate Address in the entire Database that consists of symbols made up from those three Addresses.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to call this Thursday's chapter in both sense of the case. I.E.: Thursday's chapter that would be uploaded on Wednesday, as well as the chapter for Thursday that would be the last one posted for the week. Reason being that while IRL stuff has slowed down til the weekend, I strained my wrists a bit while doing some heavy lifting yesterday, so I'm going to try to take it easy the rest of the night, and try to finish off part two of The Quest with a Monday and Tuesday buffer room. As well as maybe write some more Intermission Scenes to fill out the week. 
> 
> I apologize again for the cliffhanger, though it's not going to be as great of a one as it will be for the Atlantis side of things. SG1:10X10: The Quest Part 1 will be monday's chapter. A brief Intermission on Aincrad, Tuesday, and, if all goes well and I've gotten it finished... The Quest Part 2 will be Wednesday. If not, maybe some more intermissions. Ugh. Why did there have to be so many danged cliffhangers right after eachother for? :/ 
> 
> Anyways. Expect normal posting to resume next week, unless IRL throws me another curve ball.


	34. SG1:10X10: The Quest (Part 1.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> SG-1 goes for the Sangraal. Damara is savage with her rapier wit.

**EARTH DATE: JULY 4TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 01/12/0006.**  
  
Your name is General Hank Landry, and you look at a very tired and weary SG-1 that sits in the briefing room as you arrive that morning for what should be your holiday-special quarter-day shift.

"So. Let me get this straight. All six of you came to the same startling conclusion within seconds of eachother?" You ask in summary. "Thus, unveiling the existence of a single solitary planet that could possibly be the place that Merlin's Weapon is being stored? And finally, because of the odd synchronicity that which all six of you uncovered the idea, you suspect Damara Megido has chosen to 'bless' or 'curse' you with this 'forbidden knowledge'?"

"That's... pretty much the case, Sir," Jonas nods.

"Can she even do that?" you ask. "Plant thoughts in people's minds?"

"With Clarent in hand?" Rider shakes his head. "I wouldn't put it past anything."

"Well," you say, "Trap or Not, I suggest you gear up and head to that planet. We need Merlin's Weapon, at the very least to keep it out of Ba'al and Damara's respective grasps." And then, you wave your coffee mug at them. "Go and make some fireworks. Dismissed."

* * *

 

**O <\-- [STARGATE: SG-1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw) \-->O**

* * *

 

You are now Cameron Mitchel, and you look at a very familiar village layout, complete with all the people staring at you wandering around.

"Is it just me, or is this Camelot all over again?" you ask.

"Merlin probably had some way of mass-manufacuturing a town layout," Jonas guesses. "Given that the culture and technology looks similar to what we found with Camelot."

And then you all stop at a large sign hanging over a familiarly designed inn.

"Is it just me or-?" You start to ask.

"It reads 'Camelot Inn'," Rider and Jonas chime in simultaneously.

"Well, that's lovely," Vala says. "Even the names' the same."

You enter the inn and start asking questions.

...Somehow, the people here know that the Sangraal exists here on this world somewhere, and that apparently every other generation someone comes along looking for the danged thing.

None have never returned.

Your team is the second such group within the last three days to 'take up the quest.' Said group? A Large number of Jaffa accompanying a 'man who clearly commander their fear and respect.'

Ba'al, almost certainly, with a three day head start.

You're directed to seek the Library, and consult with "The Parchment of Virtues" to begin your quest.

An old lady librarian greets you, named Mara--  and don't you all nearly do a double take at that name, nearly mishearing it at first as 'Damara' instead--  and she tells you about how that the Legends of the Sangraal tell that it is located in a cave in the forest, but that the journey is 'fraught with peril' due to a 'curse' that Morgan Le Fay placed on it- Ganos Lal, rather.

She shows you a parchment 'purportedly left behind by Morgan herself,' serving as a guide for those of 'noble spirit' to reach the Sangraal.

Jonas translates it, "Only those of virtue true may win the prize concealed beyond the reach of the flawed and tainted. The Sangraal shall instead belong to he who speaks the guardian's name-" The guardian? A Dragon.

Rider laughs at that. "So it was HERE instead!"

 "-Prudence, wisdom, charity, kindness, and faith. Let these be your guide on this perilous quest," Jonas finishes translating.

Not much to go on, but... well... Apparnetly BA'AL STOLE THE ONLY MAP.

Lovely.

You reconvene at the Inn to try and figure out what to do about it when there are roars from the forest.

Go figure when it turns out Damara sent a couple of mutated bears through the Stargate to start rough-housing the place. And not only that, some LUCIAN ALLIANCE jerks had shown up as well and were fighting the beasts off- accompanied in tandem with a single Ascended being.

Hearing the commotion going on, Mara approached your team, and offered to lead you to the Sangraal.

You and your team all give eachother that look.

You know.

The one that says "This is all too damn bloody convenient."

Still, like Landry said, trap or not...

You need the Weapon.

Mara leads you into the forest for a while, until she slows down and you find a field of people and animals, frozen in space. There are a few of Ba'al's Jaffa stuck in place going one direction, and a bit further in you can see some moving in the opposite direction.

Very, very, slowly.

They're moving just ever so slightly, but otherwise are very much frozen solid.

"Okay, this is bad," Cassie whispers. "Very bad."

"What's wrong with them? Why aren't they moving but the trees are?" Vala asks as Jude gets out a scanner device, and begins running it along the edge of people who mark the outer most boundary of space.

"I don't know... lots of weird readings. Stronger here, weaker here, rising..." Jude winces as he finishes his scan. "Ah. Crap. Temporal Distortion Waves. This is a Time Dilation field. They're stuck in a huge bubble of slowed time. Years could pass for us before any of them make it two seconds."

"So what do we do?" Rider asks. "Go around?"

"I think the field extends in both directions in a vaguely circular shpae," Jude says, running more scans. "I'll give it to Ganos, this is one hell of a trap..." And then he stops infront of a space where nobody is standing. "Ah. I think I found something."

"What's that?" you ask.

"I think it's a way in. I'm detecting a literal tunnel of normal space-time carving through the distortion field," Jude says.

"It's a Maze," you realize.

"Yeah, and I can lead us through it easily enough," Jude says with a nod, taking a step into the field, and stopping. "Oh, Come ON!" he swears, and of course it's not for the fact he got stuck in time. "Stupid field's jamming the scanner now!" He backs away, carefully. "Okay... right. So, no cheating."

"I got an Idea," Rider starts. "What if we throw rocks?"

"Nah," you say, kneeling down, and grabbing some dirt. "Let's try more Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade."

You take that handful of dirt and throw it into the air infront of Jude.

Predictably, a lot of it stops in place. But what doesn't? It forms an outline of a boundary.

"Invisible Floor," Jude grins.

"More an invisible wall, really," Jonas debates semantics.

And so you start throwing dirt and rocks as you navigate through the maze, carefully leading a path of visibly frozen stuff for the others to follow.

It doesn't take long before you all get through the maze, and have inadvertently left a visible path that-

Suddenly the temporal field shuts off for all of a second.

Dirt and dust falls to the ground and everyone inside moves forward ever so slightly faster than they had before.

"...Guess Ganos was clever enough to reset the maze," Cassie surmises. "Even if for just a second."

"No leaving hints for the people that follow," you say. "I guess."

"We should keep moving if we want to catch up to Ba'al," Jonas says.

And with that, you continue on ahead.

* * *

 

You are now Cassandra Fraiser, and you feel a bit at unease as your ears pick up the muted grumblings of a familiar baritone voice.

"I can't believe they abandoned me," says the voice. "They're going to pay. All of them."

Your group approaches a small clearing, within which is a small wooden chest and a disgruntled Ba'al sitting next to it.

"WAIT!" He stands up to start to yell at you as you enter the clearing and-

_**FWASH!** _

A forcefield zaps as you cross through its barrier.

"Damn it," Ba'al sighs. "Well. Make yourselves comfortable. We're going to be here for a while."

Mitchel takes the tip of his gun to the field, making the thing flash.

"Don't bother," Ba'al says. "Believe me, I've tried. One way doors really suck."

"How long have you been trapped here?" Jude asks.

"Three. Agonizingly. Annoyingly. Tedious Days. Which reminds me. Did any of you bring any food?" Ba'al asks.

You decaptchalogue a granola bar and toss it to him.

He opens, and starts eating it with relish. "Oh thank Me! It's actually got chocolate chips in it!"

"Thank You?" You ask, raising an eyebrow.

"What? Do you expect me to swear by some *other* diety?" Ba'al asks. "I am my own god, aren't I?"

"AWH!" Vala exclaims as she opens the chest. "It's empty!"

"It's BAIT," Ba'al corrects.

"Let me guess," Vala asks, glaring at him, "your were lured in thinking it'd be the treasure, huh?"

"I was HUNGRY," Ba'al grouched. "I spent far too long figuring out that maze and I thought maybe the clearing would be a good place to stop and eat. Except none of my Jaffa followed me in, LAUGHED at me as soon as they saw I was trapped, and ran off with the food! Bastards, it's like they knew it was there."

"Maybe they were warned," Mara remarks.

"Dunno by who!" Ba'al grouches. "I sure hope they got caught in that damned maze."

"Oh, they did," Mitchel confirms. "Let me guess, path reset after you exited too?"

"Probably," Ba'al grunts, peeling back the wrapper of the bar more. "And it likely changed the path too. Shame they didn't think of that, I suppose."

"So, question," you start. "You're the Ba'al who had the Database that the other Ba'al wanted to steal, right?"

"Naturally," Ba'al says, mouth full of granola bar.

"So... why'd it take you this long to get here?" You ask.

Ba'al laughs, sounding defeated. "I only had TWO of the three addresses needed to complete the puzzle. As a result, I had signifcantly more addresses to investigate."

"So what happened?" you press for details as Jonas joins Vala in searching the chest.

"By process of elimination, I was left with one prospect, came via ship... and the Planet simply wasn't THERE! There wasn't even a SOLAR SYSTEM!" Ba'al remarks. "I calculated the position, came by ship, ran SCANS! And it wasn't there! I was stumped, honestly. I figured I could Gate in but I was confounded by the total lack of ANYTHING! I thought the planet was just GONE!" He finishes the granola bar. "Got any more?"

You look to Mitchel, he shrugs, and takes out a power bar. He doesn't toss it over yet. "Keep talking. It's rude to talk with your mouth full."

"Fine," Ba'al remarks. "When one of my spies informed me that ZPM dimensional overwriting wasn't actual overwriting, I decided to risk the Gate Address just to be certain. I would have tried it eventually, but it would have taken me much longer to decide to do it in that case."

"Well, obviously Ganos decided to hide it by ZPM'ing the whole system out of sight," Jude muses. "Probably so the Ori couldn't destroy the Sangraal from orbit, if they ever came."

"That's all I have to say," Ba'al says, offering his hand out. "I got trapped, and that's the short of it."

"Fine," Mitchel tosses the power bar over to him.

Jonas closes the lid to the chest, and then opens it again.

"Don't waste your time," Ba'al says. "I've had three days to escape, and the only thing that's special about it is that it's fused to the ground, impossibly."

"Like the pots in Avalon?" Vala asks.

"Probably," Jonas nods. "It'd fit with the Virtues."

"You mean to take it literally?" Rider asks.

"Prudence, Wisdom, Charity, Kindness, Faith," Jonas lists it off. "We navigated the time dilation field slowly and carefully, demonstrating Prudence to Recklessness. So... What does this trap exploit?"

"Curiosity?" Vala asks.

"Hunger?" Ba'al inquires, mouth full of power bar.

"Greed," Jonas corrects. "A person approaches expecting treasure and gets nothing but trapped for his troubles."

"So we put treasure inside instead of taking it out," Vala says.

"Basically," Jonas nods, taking off his watch and putting it inside the chest. He closes it... and... Nothing happens. "Has to be all of us," he decides.

"Seriously?" Ba'al asks.

"Look, if it doesn't work you can have whatever it is back," Jonas says, glaring at him.

"Fine," Ba'al reaches into his jacket and removes a fancy dagger. "But if I have to leave this I'll be sorely vexed. It has Sentimental Value."

"How's that?" Jude asks.

"I killed one of Damara's spies with it when I caught them in my ranks," Ba'al smirks as he hands it to Jonas, handle first.

The Old Librarian Mara squaks in offense.

Mitchel decaptchalogues a hat, you decaptcha a small tape recorder, Jude deposits a pocket flashlight, Vala... takes out a hair dryer from behind her back, likely decaptchaloguing it.

You all turn to the Librarian, and she grunts, taking out a ring and placing it in the chest.

Oh. Hello, you recognize that ring style.

Silver plate with a rust red tree-like symbol on its main face.

Rider hesitates, then takes off a small strip of blue cloth from around his right wrist, handing it over.

Before Vala can close the Chest, Ba'al remarks- "Before you decide to go killing me, just know that amongst the information I have regarding Merlin's Weapon is the name of its Protector. The Dragon, or whatever it really is. I have that, you need me whenever it shows up."

"Fair enough," Mitchel says, and with that, Vala closes the chest.

The force-field collapses, and you can all continue on ahead.

"Thank me,  another day in here and I'd have gone mad," Ba'al cracks a grin.

You all continue on down the path.

"Out of curiosity," you ask, leaning in close and whispering to the Goa'uld. "What happened to the map?"

"What map?" Ba'al asks, confused. "There wasn't any map as far as I know."

You eye the Librarian, and sigh. "Well, I should've figured that was obvious."

Within a few moments, however, any need of a map is dispersed as a large volcano-like mountain rises into view.

"I think we know where we're going now," Mitchel remarks.

* * *

 

Your name is RIDER, and you have a building sense of dread as you approach the cave entrance at the edge of the mountain.

"This is it, the point of no return," Mara says. "Within this cave is the Sangraal, beyond the hall of the Gauntlet Challenges..."

"'Gauntlet OF Challenges' would sound better," Ba'al quipps.

"Too bad you're not going to see it," Mitchel says, suddenly raising his P-90.

"What?" Ba'al looks offended. "I told you, you need me to-!"

"Not you!" Cassie says. "Her!"

"Oh, right, um, I'll just get out of your line of fire then," and Ba'al quickly steps as far away from Mara as he can.

"...Well, I suppose the jig is up," Mara remarks- her form flickering with a flicker of purple, revealing herself to be Damara Megido. "What Gave Me Away?"

"Among other things? Your Ring, mainly," Jonas says. "Silver plated thing marked with the Alternian Sign of Aries? Pretty obvious what that meant."

And then Mitchel opens fire on Damara- spraying her with bullets... Bullets that bounce off of a flashy, Goa'uld style Personal Forcefield, and hit the dirt, all momentum bled out from impact.

Mitchel quickly stops firing.

"...Well, shit," he swears.

"You can try to kill me," Damara smirks, "but you still need me."

"How's that?" You ask, glaring at the woman who'd possessed Artoria and did who knows what to who knows how many people's minds over the last few what-evers.

"Got a fancy passcode like Ba'al?"

"No," she tilts her head and continues to smirk. "Without me being present, the Andromeda Ascendands would have already begun attempting to raid this place. Not just by my physical presence here, but also by the fact I have my men sending monsters through the Gate to harass them."

"But the Village-" Jude starts.

"Is fine," Damara interjects. "I am not that much of a monster. I may be a monster yes, but I am not one to that degree. I only act in ways that are absolutely necessary. And besides, my monsters are being slain at a rate equal to that which I send them. The Andromeda Ascendants will not bother us for as long as I am accompanying you."

"....Fine," Mitchel lowers his gun. "But the MINUTE you pull out Clarent and try something on us, I pull Excaliber and you lose your head."

"Acceptable," Damara grins. "Now, shall we enter, or shall we all lose our heads to idle chitchat?"

"One question before we go in," you say.

"Fine."

"Did you plant the gate address solution into all of our heads last night?" You ask.

"All of your heads? Yes," Damara answers. "I grew tired of waiting for you to come to this world. This 'Morgan' woman placed safeguards that simply forbid me from going in and taking the Sangraal by my usual means. "

What the fuck is wrong with this Alternian Witch??

* * *

You are now VALA MAL DORAN, and you huff as your team marches down the carved steps leading deeper and deeper into the caverns.

"So since we're all here seeking Merlin's Weapon, I can only assume we all want the same thing?" Ba'al muses aloud.

"You mean use it to wipe out the Andromeda Ascendants and create yet another power vacuum in our Galaxy's power structure?" You ask.

"Yes," Damara giggles like a Goa’uld just told a funny joke, "Such Suction is quite preferable to the currently rock and hard place situation which we find ourselves in."

You do a double take at the Alternian woman, wondering if she really meant it like the way it sounded.

"Yes, well. I’m glad to hear we're on the same page then," Ba'al says, clapping his hands. "Those Ascended Ancient Douche-bags have been quite annoying. Not to say you haven't been equally annoying, Damara."

"I aim to please being a sharp thorn embedded deep within your fleshy rear, snake," Damara counters.

Everyone else groans, you sigh, because yes, you think she's definitely doing this on purpose, and Ba'al?

“Haha! Good one!” Ba'al laughs. “It’s been some time since I’ve had even this meager level of witty banter! Let alone such finely crafted remarks. It took me a good moment to parse both of those.”

Yes. She's well and truly responding to the conversation and QUIPPING, and Ba'al is preparing to quip right back, it seems.

“Well, there is a time and a place for everything," Damara counters. "As Witch of Time, I am very good at brewing such... ‘meager' banter. However, I see I do not need to bring my A Game. I need not be so strict with you lot. I know where I stand, and you know where I stand. And Furthermore, I know where you all will be sleeping tonight."

“Do you now?" Ba'al asks, raising an eyebrow. “And would you be willing to share with the class?”

“Now now, we are all grown adults here,” Damara counters. “No need to go bringing schooling matters into this. But I will share. A cold and damp cave surrounded by white, fluffy snow.”

“Your metaphor is a bit obvious there,” Ba’al quips. “You barely put any effort into it.”

“Who said I was speaking in metaphor?” Damara counters. “It is your mind that immediately went to the gutter, oh ye of many formerly bouncing, ice dusted, cerulean hued bodies that chill within the meat lockers of Area 51's morgue. I speak the truth while you jump away from the fire that would thaw your many frozen hearts and reveal the poisoned knife that slayed rather than the frozen chill.”

“Ouch,” Ba’al says, faking a hurt tone. "I’ll admit I walked right into that one. That was harsh, but well crafted.”

“Yes, you did walk into it, just as surely as you drew the knife that dug deep into their flesh and pulled those oh-so hot tracking chips out of their necks,” Damara answers. “And I need no reason to pull my punches when you provide such a fine cold compress to soothe my bruises, _**soon-to-be-slab-of-frozen-meat**_. Tomorrow you will wake up and find I’ve left you in the cold. _ **Alone.**_ So very alone. Just like you always are, regardless of how many clones you fill a room with. And I mean no disrespect, but you've very intentionally brought this upon yourself. You don't need me or anyone else to point this out, because as much as you hide it, you already know your greatest and most final demise will be just as cold, just as frozen and alone, with your face burnt away by the frigid cold of a plan that failed to account for the temperatures of the ocean within which you tried to sink oh so many ships again and again and again. Always trying, never succeeding for longer than a fraction of a second stretched across eternity. It's a never ending loop stuck within the absolute zero. And _**You Are SO Aware**_ what your future brings, despite how you pretend that it's not going to happen to you, but instead to someone else. Do you need me to go on, or shall I continue to chisel away at your frozen corpse with my sharpened wit for another few minutes? It's not as if even my body heat would thaw you out of your fate that is already so frigidly frozen within time and space. You are already dead, Ba'al, and you know it. No matter how you try to delay the inevitable, _**it, is, inevitable.**_ ”

Silence falls for several long moments, and nobody dares move, let alone speak.

What the FUCK WAS THAT!?

Just. What. What the fuck?? What the ever loving fuck was THAT, Damara Megido!?

And then Mitchel coughs a "Well. That was fun," and you all start walking again.

Descend, descend, descend...

Silent, silent, silent...

”...So I’ll admit I’m curious,” Ba’al abruptly changes the subject. “We each have our reasons for wanting to stop the Andromeda Ascendants. Set back as they may be now, they are reorganizing and re-calibrating for their continued conquest of the universe. None of us want that. But they want the Galaxy free, I want to rule it...  What is your reason for wanting them out of the picture?"

"I have a bigger fish to pleasure myself with... **_grilling_** to a _fine,_ **charbroiled** _**crisp**_... than them," Damara counters. "They are but tiny minnows that need to be removed from the pond before I can deal with that very big Koi fish, and I will ensure that it screams like an Alternian Terror Bird when I do so."

"Wait- What?" Jude reacts. "What fish is this now?"

"Hmm? You are interested in Fishing as well? Color me surprised," Damara giggles again. "I do find fishing to be such a pleasurable activity. Spending such long periods of time with very thin rods and miles of string- both so strong despite their fragile appearance- all in the service of hunting that massive Koi that will soon be bound and tied like a hog, spinning on my spit atop a burning blaze of-"

"Can we drop the fish based metaphor, please!?" Mitchel interjects.

"Again. What metaphor? I am not being Koi like the pond I apparently 'metaphorically' speak of. Oh, but sure, spoil my fun like a snapped fishing line and make me speak plainly, why don't you?" Damara asks. "Know this, then. What I do, I do to rid myself of my former master once and for all. There are... vestiges of his will left behind still within this multiverse, and many of them gather again into a single whole that I must defeat when he makes his return."

"English is dead," Cassie says. "We shoved him into a black hole."

"That is the end of his timeline, yes," Damara says. "But I must ensure that all the pieces of his soul are inside the box when you toss it into the trash compactor."

"Guess it makes sense for a villain associated with time to have stowed some bits of himself away," you muse, and then frown. "By the way, aren't these stairs ending any time soon?"

"Ah, the 'Are We There Yet!'" Ba'al laughs. “I was wondering when such an Earth Staple would manifest itself!”

“You are simply impatient,” Damara says.

And then you reach the end of the stairwell, reaching an open chamber that you can barely see anything in.

"Because the answer is yes," Damara concludes with a smirk. "We have finished that long interlude of darkness, and begin our light period. And I mean that as an Art reference, rather, before anyone asks. Also. We will need flashlights to proceed."

Reluctantly, everyone with a flashlight turns them on to add more light to the dim chamber, and... You spot two large tunnels going left and right, as well as an-

"Ancient Tablet," Jonas approaches a stone set on the wall. "'Choose the way that is Just and True', it says."

"Oooh! A Riddle!" You clap your hands. "I love riddles!"

"Just and true, just and true..." Rider muses.

"Obviously the Just and True way is the Right Way so we have to go Right!" you surmise.

"Bare in mind the writing's in Ancient," Jonas says. "So the solution is likely to be an Ancient word puzzle rather than in English."

"Who said I was thinking about it in English?" You protest. "Maybe I was thinking about it in, uh, Jaffa or Goa'uld?"

"Same difference," Jonas counters.

"Hey," Rider says suddenly. "Quiet, everyone. Listen."

You quiet down... listen...

"That's a kid crying," Mitchel says, and then starting down the path that the sound's coming from.

"A kid in here? A trap, obviously," you say.

"Or a test," Jonas follows Mitchel, as does everyone else except for Damara and Ba'al and you.

"A test of what? Our stupidity?" Ba'al asks.

"Our Humility, perhaps?" Damara counters, and follows the others.

You look at Ba'al, and say, "Who would've expected her to say that one straight?"

He shrugs, and you two follow the others.

You soon arrive upon a young boy crying within the cave's tunnels.

He's probably no more than five, but he runs off in fright, crying the whole way.

Mitchel calls out for the kid to stop, and you just keep following the the whole way. Down more stairs, through more tunnels...

It's probably a trap, but...

"Kindness!" Jonas surmises. "This is a test of kindness to help calm the kid and get them out of the cave!"

"Why's he RUNNING then!?" Mitchel asks.

Then, you hear a clanking noise around a corner, and when you round it...

The boy's stuck inside a small jail cell alcove, with a metal grate blocking the way. By your eyes, it seems to have fallen from the ceiling.

"...Oh Come On," Jude mutters. "How'd he get stuck back there?"

"He's tiny," Ba'al remarks. "He can fit through the bars with ease."

"Hey, um," Mitchel kneels down to look at the kid. "Don't worry, kid, we're going to get you out of there."

The kid replies in something very much not anything you recognize.

"...That was Ancient," Jonas says. "Um... 'I don't understand you.' Obviously." He thinks for a moment then tries translating what Mitchel just said.

The kid doesn't react, just repeating the same phrase again.

"Fuck it," Mitchel says, and starts trying to lift the grate. "Give me some help, Guys!!!"

You all start working to try lifting the large metal gate, well, everyone save for Ba'al.

"Seriously?" He asks. "Are we really doing this?"

"Help us out or I will put you in this cage instead once we get it open," Damara counters, glaring at the Goa'uld.

Huh, who knew she had it in her?

Ba'al moves to help, and the moment he puts his hand on the grate, the thing magically retracts into the ceiling.

The boy smiles, and then fades away with a flicker of light-- and so does the back of the cave wall.

"...Huh," Ba'al stares. "I didn't expect that."

You continue down through the tunnel, finding a dead end chamber with another stone tablet on the wall.

"Another riddle, great," Cassie remarks. "Jonas?"

He translates, "'I'm struck and cut, shaped and cooled, then bound by rings to release what's stored.'"

As if on cue, the cavern starts shaking- and dust falls from the ceiling.

"Aw, hell," Mitchel gripes. "Solve it fast!"

"What's struck, cut, shaped, and cooled, then-" Cassie stops, facepalming. "BOUND BY RINGS! IT'S 'KEY'!"

"Right!" Jonas then calls out, "CLAVIA!"

The wall fades away, the rumbling continues and worsens- you all rush on ahead.

Another panel, another wall.

"I shake the earth with booming thunder, fell forests whole and homes complete! I influence ships, topple kings, sweep down swift yet remain unseen!" Jonas translates.

"I know this one!" Jude says. "It's WIND!"

"VENTIO!" Jonas calls out.

The wall fades away again.

You rush through another tunnel, and this time UP stairs. The rumbling keeps getting worse.

"OH FOR CRYIN' OUT LOUD!" Cassie exclaims as you find yet another tablet.

"Battle-scarred in times of strife, resistant to-" he stops. and then yells, "CONTAGIA!"

The rumbling and shaking stops as suddenly as it came as the wall fades away again.

"...You know," you remark. "Come to think of it, riddles really were never my strong point." You all continue into the tunnel that just opened. "Now, Visual Puzzles! 'Which of these does not belong' or 'reconfigure to make the hidden image'! I love those."

Hrm. Is it getting hot in here or-?

"Is it just me, or is it getting hot in here?" Mitchel asks, even as the room seems to get lighter in color... warmer, even.

"Now that you mention it..." you trail off as you all approach a large wall of fire blocking your path. "It is a tad toasty."

* * *

 

You are now Jonas Quin, and you've spent about five minutes of silence searching the fire-wall chamber for any sign of a way through...  
Nothing. You can't go forwards, can't go back (The walls have resealed behind you) and now...

"Maybe we should let the little witch here take out her sword and part the flames?" Ba'al asks.

"I wouldn't even if I wanted to," Damara says. "And I don't. They will kill me if I do. And I'd rather not lose my head at this stage. We are close. The Sangraal is behind that wall."

"Hah," Ba'al laughs, dismissively. "Of course. How's that Earth saying go. 'All Flash, no Photo'?"

"It's all flash, no substance," Cassie says.

"I prefer my version," Ba'al says.

"Wait." Jude starts. "All Flash no substance."

"What?" You ask, looking at him. "What is it?"

"Is it just me, or is nobody getting eye strain looking at this thing?" Jude asks in turn.

You glance at the wall of fire, expecting to flinch, but...

It's not hurting your eyes to look at it at all.

It's bright. It should be stinging, making them water...

...Oh. You're _dense._

"It's the only one left," you say. "The parchment told us that five virtues are the guides. Prudence, kindness, charity, wisdom, and faith. We displayed prudence in finding a way out of the temporal maze, charity in escaping the forcefield trap, kindness by helping the child and finding the hidden passageway, and wisdom in solving the riddles. The only virtue left is faith."

You take a step towards the wall of fire- your name gets called- and you step through the wall of illusionary fire.

"It's not real," you say as it disperses into nothing. "It was never real the entire time."

"Well, that's great," Vala says, stepping forwards. "Explains the eyestrain issue, doesn't it?"

"Pretty much," Rider shakes his head.

You all continue on down the tunnel, and then exit into a very large cavern. There's a narrow stone passageway leading to a platform with a couple of stone structures on it; on the smaller of the two, there's a glowing red orb.

"There it is," Ba'al smiles. "We found it. Our for the taking."

"Hang on," Mitchel grabs a rock, and throws it over the edge of the rock surface.

...There's no sound of it hitting anything after a solid thirty seconds.

"Yeah, that's deep," Mitchel says. "Only one or two of us should head over."

"I'll go," Rider volunteers.

"I will go as well," Damara grins.

"I think I'll stay here and support from a distance," Ba'al remarks.

"Anyone else wanna take a jaunting walk over the abyss?" you ask.

"I will," you volunteer.

The rest of your team shakes their heads.

"Alright then," Vala says. "I guess it's Rider, Jonas, and Damara."

And so, you walk across the bridge, slowly, carefully, making your way towards the solid platform at the end of it...

Then, you stand there over it, hovering.

It's there, such a tiny, little, red orb, just resting there, peacefully.

"Take it, little Mordred," Damara demands.

"Why don't you take it, Damara?" Rider asks.

"For the same reason I do not draw my sword," Damara answers.

"Merlin and Morgan blocked it, didn't they?" Rider asks. "You draw Clarent here, and you'll get zapped."

"Alas, it is ture," Damara admits. "Take the Sangraal, Mordred."

"Nah," Rider shakes his head. "I've been zapped by enough of Merlin's tech along the way. I'm not that dumb. Jonas takes it."

"Mordred must take it," Damara insists.

"What do you know that we don't?" you ask.

"Just that Mordred must be the one to claim the Sangraal."

"No way am I getting shocked again, lady," Rider growls. "And stop calling me 'Mordred.' I'm not that person anymore. I gave up on it when you took my FATHER away from me! Before we could ever reconcile. I was the worst kind of bastard to ever exist! I fought a war for them! I nearly killed my Father because of them! Merlin and Morgan were building ALL OF THIS when I fell! There is NO WAY I can take the Sangraal at all!"

"Hey!" Mitchel calls out. "What's the holdup?"

"Jonas is the only one who can take it, and it's definitely NOT ME!" Rider insists.

"YOU MUST!" Damara yells. "IT IS YOUR DESTINY!!"

"AND WHAT PART OF MERLIN THINKS I'M A TRAITOR DON'T YOU UNDERSTAND!?" Rider counters. " _*I!* ****CANNOT!!** ***TOUCH THAT THING!*****_"

"YOU MUST!" Damara reaches across, grabs Rider's hands, and-

"Oh for crying out loud!" You grab at the Sangraal before things can escalate to blows.

All three of you somehow touch the thing at the same time, which isn't possible.

Silence follows for a few precious seconds as Damara retracts her hands, and Rider jumps backwards, as if expecting to be shocked.

You grasp at air, and then realize why you can't grab the Sangraal.

"It's another hologram," you realize, looking at the light-form shape of crystal half sticking through your hand before flickering and vanishing.

Then, there's rumbling, shaking, and the sound of machinery churning elsewhere.

"Get back over here!" Mitchel orders, and the three of you run over the bridge.

And then you hear a roar of sound from far below you.

"Please don't let that be what I think it is!" Vala laments.

"That was definitely a dragon's roar," Rider confirms, and then you hear the flapping of wings.

"I thought we agreed Dragons aren't native to this dimension?" Vala asks.

"Doesn't mean it's not..." You trail off as a massive, scaled beast emerges from the depths of the cavern, swooping up into the air, spiraling lazily as it ascends, and then levels out, glaring crimson eyes at you as it flaps its two massive wing-arms.

Its legs dangle behind it along side a spiked tail, and it growls through a surprisingly avian like face.

It rears its head back with a guttural hissing sound, _**YHOOOOOOLL**_ \---

"DUCK!!!" Cassie shouts.

\---And then the resounding bellow of flames emerges from the dragons mouth, singing the air with a melodic sound, _**TORSHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL!**_

* * *

_**TO BE CONTINUED.** _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well HERE WE GO.
> 
> Yeah, I'm referencing Elder Scrolls Dragons here, but less Skyrim's, more Elder Scrolls Online, in terms of attack behavior. You'll see more on Wednesday's chapter, part 2. Why? Mostly just for the reference and attack pattern behavior in the next part. And also, by the time I got to this point, my writing groove had been interrupted a BUNCH of times. I was just out of imagination to come up with anything legitimately original for dragon behaviors.
> 
> I went through a couple of passes on Damara's dialogue due to the aforementioned interruptions making it not quite feel coherent in places. I'm still not sure it's coherent in some places. There's a fine line to walk between legitimate facts and those that sound like metaphor or innuendo.
> 
> Regardless, have some proper Damara introspection and motivation. Good luck figuring out what she's actually thinking inside that head of hers, because I'm not sure I managed anything but confusing myself. XD


	35. MINISODE: Fallen Scales

**EARTH DATE: JULY 5TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 01/13/0006.**  
  
Your name is Keiko Ayano, and you stare ahead at the vast ocean outside of Aincrad's first floor with trepidation.

Even with Pina settled around your neck, and Mallek resisting against the railing next to you... It's just not the same. Not the same to how it was before... and it's not the same to Atlantis either.

Not with more than one Castle Ship now resting in the ocean. A whole proverbial sea of giant metal eggs just... floating on the ocean.

The situation had deteriorated since the last time you'd talked with Silica. The Goa'uld had gotten more sabotage in during that time. Castle Ships had started sinking, aiming to crash through the Magnetosphere plates with a greater ferocity than they had since Aincrad's original crash.

It was a miracle that everyone had managed to stay ahead of it enough to be able to repeat the same feats as Aincrad. To phase the other Castle Ships into a state they could safely pass through the shield... most of the time, anyways.

The remains of Castle Ship Undavold resting in the distance tells a different story.

The whole thing resided in pieces, half submerged into the ocean, half buried in landmasses nearby. 

It had fallen without warning. The entire ship's population had been lost in the crash, and the damage to the Magnetosphere had begun to spread outwards like a ripple.

Other Castle Ships had fared similar fates- some better with evacuations managing to be carried out, some worse.... To the point that not even their remains could be found after the crash.

Pina sneezed suddenly, and you give your little friend a sympathetic smile.

"So..." Mallek starts. "What even is there for the Atlantis Expedition to even apply here? Knowledge wise, I mean?"

"Repairs, maintenance," you inhale enough air to puff your cheeks, and then rapidly blow it out with a "pfffffff." 

"That all?" Mallek asks.

"Atlantis is a relic comparatively," you say. "Sure, we've learned a lot about the more basic architecture shit beneath the systems in the Castle Ships. But... Applying that? Honestly we'd learn more from the Ancients themselves coming to live here."

"This whole thing is stupid," Mallek grunts. "We had Admin control over the City that they didn't. Why did they get to dictate terms?"

"Something something Colonialism and Imperialism?" You offer. "I dunno. I think it's more for us to make sure we can get all the Goa'uld sabotage out of... That!"

You motion at the crashed ship.

Undavold's remains gleam in a beam of sunlight that pierces through a gap in the clouds and the magnetosphere. 

Undavold- "Underworld"- a fitting name for the remains of a Castle Ship that was now a mass grave. It doesn't deserve that shine. Doesn't deserve that gleaming sunlight.

You hear a distant roar, and see some larger cousins of Pina emerging from the wreckage to bathe in the sunlight along that Castle Ship's now warming shell.

Pina lets out a "Kyuiii!", fluttering her wings, upon seeing them.

"Huh," Mallek muses. "I guess there were some survivors over there after all."

You watch a Flame dragon belch out a burst of flames, settling all four of its legs firmly into the metal and stretching out its wings, and then it curls up like a cat.

"Ah, if only we could waste away our days like that," you sigh. "It's time to get back to work."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short scene that was written to be a gap chapter when I thought it'd take me a full weekend to finish off Part 2 of the Quest to try and make it a monday chapter... 
> 
> ....It took me a bit longer than that to finish it, obviously. So now this is a Tuesday chapter and not a Friday chapter. Quest Part two is tomorrow. 
> 
> This probably could have gone behind the Quest Part Two but... eh. Too lazy to edit the manuscript document. Might reorder things a bit later. We'll see.


	36. SG1:10X11: The Quest (Part 2.)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2/2. Conclusion. SG-1 fights a Wyvern-mistaken-as-dragon; The Sangraal is found.

**EARTH DATE: JULY 4TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 01/12/0006.**  
  
**YHOOOOOOLL---**

Your name is Cameron Mitchel.

"DUCK!!!" Cassie shouts.

And you don't even think.

_**\---TORSHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL!** _

You just decaptchalogue Excaliber and swing the damned thing at the oncoming wall of flames.

The golden blade gleames, and the fire breath is splint clean down the middle- deflected to your left and right and clear away from everyone that could have been hit.

The flames stop, the Dragon ROARS upon seeing the blade, and swoops away to begin circling.

It rears its head back with another hissing sound- _FUSSS-_ and expels it at you directly. The Air shatters as it rushes towards you with an explosive **_RODAAA_** that you swing the magic sword upwards to deflect.

Somehow, it works, and the shockwave gets redirected upwards and behind you.

You hear something crumbling away. 

"BACK BACK BACK!" Cassie yells, "BACK INTO THE TUNNELS!"

Your ragtag group runs, but you stand guard.

Eight people is a lot to squeeze through some tunnels, all at once, and given the annoyed look the Dragon is giving you...

It hisses again, preparing for another attack- _FUSSS-_ what'll it be this time? - _ **YOLDAAA!**_

It's a massive concussive burst of meteoric flames.

You swing Excaliber again and send it hurtling back at the Dragon- it bathes in the flames and doesn't seem to react

It's eyes gleam as it locks onto you- no, the sword. And then the Dragon hisses- you swear it's saying the name of the sword- _**"EXCALIBER."**_

You nearly double take, the Dragon is hissing as it glares at you.

And then Jonas grabs you by the back of your neck and drags you back into the tunnels.

"MOVE MOVE MOVE MOVE!" Cassie yells, and you all run and run and run...

And then as you all near a corner- _FUSSSS..._ -And everyone rounds it- _**YOLDAH!**_ -You glance back and watch as a fireball smashes into the corner, spattering everywhere.

God, that was lucky.

After a few more moments of tunnel running, you find an exit, and emerge into a large meadow.

"What the hell just happened back there?" You ask.

"The Sangraal wasn't real," Jonas answers. "It was a hologram!"

"What?" Jude asks. "We came all this way for nothing!?"

"I told you you needed to take it!" Damara accuses of Rider, who counters back:

"And I told YOU I was the wrong person for the job!"

"Then why even volunteer to go across the bridge!?" Damara counters.

"Incase Merlin or Morgan pulled something like THIS!" Rider points at the cave you all just exited.

"We have to go back for it," Damara says.

"Are you joking!?" Ba'al asks, sounding scandalized by the idea.

"The Dragon is the final test to be slain!" Damara declares.

"It's madness to even consider challenging that thing!" Ba'al goes to say more when there's a muted "AAAH" sound followed by a loud, large, and terrifying cracking noise.

You all turn back towards the mountain, and that's when you hear it, a very low hissed sound, followed by a rock shattering _**"RODAAAAAAAH!"** _As the entire mountaintop explodes apart, and the dragon emerges, circling the mountain with a roar.

"...Somehow I don't think we're going to get much of a choice!" You observe as the Dragon starts to circle around towards you.

* * *

 

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw)

* * *

 

"TREE LINE!" Cassie orders, and you all begin running for the forest.

Your name is Jonas Quinn, and you're quite frankly pretty tired by all of this.

The Dragon hisses-- _**YHOOOOLL...TORSHUUUUUUUUL!**_ \-- and releases a stream of fire as it starts burning everything in a line heading directly towards-

"SIDES NOW!" Jude yells, and everyone dodges either left or right- and the dragon's burning flames cut a swath in the grass between the group.

The dragon, realizing it missed, shuts off its flame attack and begins to circle around.

You take aim with your P-90 and fire off a few shots... shots that don't do anything.

"KEEP GOING!" Cassie yells, "TO THE TREES!"

And so you keep running for the forest's edge.

**FEM...** _**KIIGON!** _

There's nothing at first, but then you see a spark of flame running across the ground and instinct has you stop.

And then suddenly the ground right infront of Damara erupts with massive, molten, metal spikes.

She doesn't stop in time, and the metal spike structure then explodes, and the Alternian woman goes flying into the tree line with a shriek of surprise.

"MINE FIELD!" Ba'al warns, and you look around carefully.

There are tiny little fireballs running all along the ground, erupting into metal spikes of molten doom whenever someone gets too close.

And oh, they get close because they seem to be target seeking.

"YOU SERIOUSLY HAD TO GO EXTRA, DIDN'T YOU, MORGAN!?" Rider complains.

That's when there's a burst of light from overhead, and an Ascended being rams itself into the Dragon.

Suddenly, its attention diverted, the beast rolls in mid air and prepares something entirely different, **JOOR...** _ **ZAHFRUL!**_

The Ascended Being seemingly assumed it was going to be unaffected by the blast, whatever it was, and thus was caught entirely off guard.

With a sudden, pained, cry of terror, a naked man exists exactly where there was a flying, glowing lightball of ascended energy.

Key words being "exactly" and "flying," because the man immediately began falling to his squishy death on the ground below, screaming all the way.

_"REBEKA!!! HELP HELP HEEEEELL--!!!"_

However, the Dragon never lets him get that far, and swoops down and swallows the unfortunate Andromeda Former-Ascendant whole in mid air.

The distraction gave you all enough time to get into the tree line, however, and the Dragon begins circling again as several of the Lucian Alliance soldiers who had accompanied that Ascendant through the gate begin firing up at it with Jaffa Staff Weapons.

 ** _PCHOO! PCHOO!_** They do nothing to the Dragon's scales. The Dragon starts toying with them, spitting fireballs down upon them from above with a murderous glee.

"...So..." Vala huffs. "What now?"

"It can't hit us as long as we stay in the trees," Ba'al says. "We should be able to make it back to the village- and the Stargate- if we follow them that way."

"No," you say, "Damara was right. The Dragon's the final test. We can't give up now."

"That's the noble sentiment that's going to get us all killed!" Ba'al counters.

"Aren't you the one that claimed to know the dragon's secret name?" You ask. "Well!" You point at it. "Nows your chance!"

"Oh, Fine! Now you believe me on something!!" Ba'al rolled his eyes, takes a few breaths, and briefly ducks out of cover- "GANOS LAL!"

...That's it!?

The Dragons stops its attack pattern, flaps for a few moments, and then turns slowly in mid air to glare at the Goa'uld that dared to shout that name.

The Dragon continues to tank staff blasts that hit it, and then, the Dragon rears back- _**YHOOOOL...**_

"THAT DIDN'T WORK!" Ba'al yells, dodging back into cover.

**_RODAH!_ **

Flames smash into the ground where Ba'al had been standing, and you all wince from the impact shockwave. And then the Dragon then circles through the air once more, lining up another trailing breath of fire, no doubt.

**YHOOOOL... _TORSHUUUUUUUUUUUUL!!!!_**

The Lucian Alliance men that stupidly stood their ground never stood a chance, and get engulfed in flames instantly. Their smarter companions who dodged can only look on in horror at their now flame broiled corpses.

"I'm glad we dodged that," Vala says with a grimace.

"Does anyone smell a barbecue?" Ba'al inquires.

"Okay, so that clearly didn't work!" Rider glares at Ba'al. "Why not!?"

"I don't know!" Ba'al counters. "That's the pass code I read would shut it down! Ganos Lal is-" The Dragon ROARS in anger upon the name being uttered again- "is the codephrase that's supposed to shut it down! I swear! It should have worked!"

"So what made it not work then?" Cassie asks.

"Ah... Crap," Mitchel laments. "That might be my fault."

And then he holds up Excaliber in a backhanded grip, blade pointed straight at the ground.

"It recognized the sword," Jude guesses.

"It recognized the fucking sword," Mitchel nods.

"Of COURSE it did," Rider groans. "Fucking Merlin or Morgan built in a King Arthur Challenge Mode!"

"So does that mean the sword kills the dragon?" Jude asks even as Cassie mutters a "Thanks, Ganos."

"Well it certainly knocks the shouty breaths right back at it well enough," Mitchel states. "So maybe I can stab it if I get close enough?"

 **YHOOOL... _TORSHUUUUUUUUUUUUUUL!!!!!!!_** The ground shakes as another pass of fire burns past the tree line.

"Well that all depends on us grounding it, somehow!!" Rider grimaces. "And something tells me that dragon isn't landing unless--"

The ground shakes with a rough impact, and you all glance out into the clearing to watch as the dragon stalks on all fours towards one of the last remaining Lucian Alliance soldiers.

"Nevermind!" Rider counters. "Anyone got ideas?"

"Maybe," you frown. "How would Artoria go about handling this?"

"Uhhh... Probably give some flowery speech, twist the sword to Excaliblast mode, and vaporize the Dragon in a single strike?" Rider answers.

"I'll forego the flowers," Mitchel says, "how many twists of the handle again?"

"If it's anything like Clarent?" Rider frowns. "Uh... Fuck. Right hand over left hand- gripping Middle Ring with right, twist the ring two clicks clockwise as you raise the sword with both hands- use left hand for most of the major rotational force!"

"Got it!" Mitchel ducks out of cover, jumping over some cooling metal spikes, and runs towards the dragon, its back turned to him, even as it snaps its jaws forwards and bites down on the unfortunate Lucian Alliance man.

"I sure hope this works," you say.

"Don't we all," Ba'al remarks.

"HEY, FIREBREATH!" Mitchel yells, and he raises the sword up high- the blade gleaming golden all of a sudden. _ **"EX...!"**_ And then the golden light shines upwards into the heavens.

The Dragon snaps around, turning on a dime very quickly. It hisses. **_FUUUUSSS..._**

 _ **"CALIBER!!!!!!!"**_ And then he swings down a massive golden beam of fuck-off-dragon into its face.

 _ **ROD** A-_ The dragon can't get its next blast off in time, and gets utterly wrecked as its engulfed by the beam of light.

  
When the light show fades and the spots clear from your eyes, all that remains in the place of the dragon are several mangled, burnt to a crisp corpses all in a pile, likely contained within its stomach.

"Well..." Ba'al whistles. "Remind me never to get on your bad side."

* * *

 

You are now Cassandra Fraiser-Harley, and as the lot of you sans Damara, whose body could not be found and thus is in a state of a shrodinger's cat like paradox, return to the Sangraal chamber, you can only hope that the dragon you just 'killed' was a hard-light hologram and not a real living beast. 

Because really, you don't want to EVER face something like that ever again. 

"So, it's real this time, right?" Mitchel asks as you all gather around the chamber.

"Should be," Rider says. 

"Want to do the honors?" Jonas asks.

"...Fine, might as well," Rider shrugs, and hesitantly grasps at the red orb before you...

It's still just a hologram.

"Oh COME ON!" you exclaim, frustrated.

That's when there's a grinding sound from nearby, and a tall obelisk rises up from the ground. It's covered in ancient writing and a glowing blue diamond that's glowing rather-

**_TOOOOOOMMM-SHINK!!!_ **

And then suddenly the entire room is different. Or rather, all seven of you have just been teleported INTO a room, because this is a room. There's old, antique furniture everywhere, and it looks like it's a workspace carved into the side of a cliffside wall.

"What just happened?" Vala asks.

"We were teleported to another room," you state the obvious.

"Right, but..." Vala looks around. "Is it just me, or is the gravity slightly lighter here? That shouldn't happen just by being teleported, right?"

"Spread out," MItchel says, "search the room and the immediate area. Let's find out where we are, and if the Sangraal is anywhere around here at all."

And so you search the room. Rider and Vala head out through the most obvious doorway structure, and you find a small chamber hidden behind a curtain.

It's a cryogenics pod, and inside is an old, bearded man.

"Oh, wow," you breathe out. "It's a Wizard."

Jonas heads over, and peers at a stone plaque near the pod. "Here lies Myrddin, Archmage of the Round."

"We found Merlin," Mitchel says. "So, how do we get him out?"

"Oh! Hello Repository!" Ba'al exclaims from nearby.

"Don't touch that!" Jude commands.

You all turn around, and watch as a portion of the wall suddenly morphs into the familiar shape of an Ancient Repository. The kind with the grabby hands that downloads a ton of knowledge into your head.

Ba'al and Jude back away from it, thank goodness, only for a beeping sound to draw your attention back to the Stasis pod.

It's thawing out.

Your vibes come back in full force.

"Grab him!" You yell as the defrosting process completes and the man slumps forwards out of the pod. You and Jonas manage to grab him, and Mitchel, Jude, and Ba'al quickly go clear off a table to lie him on.

* * *

 

"Well. I don't think we're in Kansas anymore, Toto." You are now Vala Mal Doran, and you look at the desert outside the cave you just exited.

There's nothing for miles save for a Stargate, DHD, and Obelisk like the one that just teleported you here.

"I think I haven't watched or read whatever it is you're referencing yet," Rider says, "but I think I get the gist. Weren't we on a forest planet just a minute ago?"

"We weren't just transported to another chamber," you realize, "we were teleported through the Stargate. It must have been remotely activated, we were beamed into storage, and transmitted through the wormhole to be reconsituted on the other side."

"Well, the more distance between us and Witchy-face back there the better," Rider says. "If She's still alive, I mean."

"Yeah," you frown. "Attempt to dial Earth?"

"Might as well," Rider nods.

You try to dial out... but the DHD doesn't respond.

You decide quickly, "We should go back inside."

"Yes, probably," Rider nods.

And so you head back the way you came, returning just in time to hear Jonas remark, "It's amazing how similar to the myth all this is,"

"How's that?" Rider asks- and then stopping- "Holy shit! Is that...!?"

You turn the corner, and see a man lying on a table. "Huh, it's the Wizard of Oz," you joke.

"Oh, welcome back," Jonas says. "See, supposedly Morgan trapped Merlin in a cave and left him frozen for all eternity. I think in reality, she was protecting him from the Ancients, and probably the Ori too."

"You think Ganos actually destroyed the Sangraal?" Cassandra asks.

"Probably didn't have any choice," Jonas nods. "If she didn't, they'd send someone else to finish the job, so... she did the next best thing and preserved the one person capable of building it again."

"What's the good news?" Mitchel asks. "Find a way out?"

"Good news is," you say, "We're next to the Stargate. Slightly better news is we're next to the Stargate on another PLANET enitrely!"

"Bad news is the DHD's non responsive," Rider continues. 

"I can fix that," Ba'al volunteers in a heartbeat.

"So can I," Jude says.

"Well, it's not a competition now is it?" Ba'al asks.

And then the man on the table groans, and starts to stirr.

"Merlin's awake," Jude says.

"Oh, hello," you smile. 

"Mmh..." The man opens his eyes, and Jonas and Mitchel help him sit up. "...Where am I?"

"That's a very good question," Cassandra says.

"You look familiar," Merlin peers at her. "Guinevere? Oh, no, it can't be. Guinevere had blonde hair. Has Morgan suggested you change it to hide from our Enemies?"

And then he looks to Mitchel, and exclaims, "PERCIVAL!"

"Uh, what?" Mitchel asks in surprise. 

"And.... And, Lancelot?? Galahad!!" Merlin exclaims upon seeing Jude and Jonas respectively. "Oh! Brave Knights! Fortune Indeed does smile upon me to see your faces again!"

"Uh... Don't mind me saying so, but it looks like Merlin's drawbridge isn't stretching all the way across the moat, if you take my neaming," Ba'al remarks.

"What's that?" Merlin turns to peer at Ba'al, and exclaims, "Mordred! I should have known a scoundrel like you would have been redeemed! You've even changed your hair too!"

"W-What?" Rider sounds shocked. You look at him, and he seems... uh... rather unnerved that someone else is getting pinned with his old name.

"Huh?" Merlin whirls to look at Rider, and he gasps. "No, it can't be!"

"I..." Rider starts to open his mouth.

"Artoria! You did it! You redeemed your son after all!" Merlin exclaims, getting up from the table he's sitting on with a surprising amount of strength, rushes over to Rider, and hugs him tight. "I knew it! I knew you had it in you!"

" _uuhhhhh...._ " Rider blinks, startled. "Thank you??"

"You are most welcome, my King," Merlin answers, hugging tight and not letting go.

Rider squeaks. _"S-Someone help me, Please??"_

"...This just got... uh... very interesting," Ba'al remarks. 

"That it did," you say. "Do you think maybe he was on ice for too long?"

"It should've been less time than the other timeline Weir was in cryo," Jude muses. "I wonder why he's more loopy comparatively speaking?"

"Merlin?" Jonas starts. "Um. Myrddin? We need your help. We need you to remember. About the Sangraal. About Morgan and how you got here."

"Morgan..." Merlin's hug of Rider lightens, and he lets him go, much to his relief.

Rider wheezes and gasps for breath. "So Tight..."

"Yes, Morgan," Jude starts. "You might have known her better as Ganos Lal?"

"Ganos..." Merlin pauses. "I haven't heard that name spoken in a very long time."

"We're not Knights of the Round Table," Mitchel says, carefully avoiding the subject that was Mordred's historical status as a Knight of the table and the betrayal that happened. "Though, we are flattered by the comparison."

"A thousand years have passed," Jonas says. "We know who you are. We know about Atlantis, and..." he pauses. "We've dealt with the Ori," a white lie even you can recognize, but true in the fact that they are dead. "And we're running into the Andromeda Ascendants. They've... they've killed so many of the Others. They're actively meddling in the galaxy."

"They're basically the Ori Two-Point-Oh," Cassandra says.

Merlin considers all of that for a few moments. Then, very intensely, he demands, "Tell me more."

This... is going to take a while, you can tell that much.

You look to Jude and Ba'al, and they nod, quietly following you and Rider out of the cave back to the Stargate.

* * *

 

You are now DAMARA MEGIDO, and you huff as you heal away the many burns to your body. If a past you hadn't time jumped in to secure your own fate... UGH. That was a foolish, near death mistake you knew was coming and had to be taken because you saw it happen and thus continuity had to be established... But you still failed to see the damned thing coming when it happened. 

Damned Dragons. Even you have your blindspots and they seem to be one of them.

By the time either version of you got back to the cave, you found that the Sangraal had vanished along with SG-1 and that Goa'uld. You decided to then go to the Stargate, cut them off at the pass...

You find one of Ba'al's Jaffa waiting at the Gate for you- one of the only smart ones who made it out of the temporal maze, and went into hiding until your return.

"Ladies Damara," he kneels.

"Report," you demand. "Have SG-1 made it back here yet?"

"The Stargate activated all on its own for but a few seconds before closing," the Jaffa reports.

"The Address?" Past you inquires.

"The DHD nor Gate showed any signs of dialing. It simply activated," the Jaffa reports.

"I see," you frown, and test something.

Clarent spawns in your hand as it should, and you march over to the DHD. "Very well then. We'll take chase." Or rather... You look to your past self who has yet to become the you of the present.

Your past self reachs out to the Stargate and DHD and begins to access their memory files.

She will need to go through the following events before coming back to be the you that just did all of this.

You know where they're going but she has to discover it for herself.

Meanwhile... You're going to go rest and recover from your own damned mistake.

Fucking Dragons.

* * *

 

Your name is Jonas Quinn, and you've just finished explaining everything about what had happened over the last, uh... five-ish years regarding Ascended Plane Drama?

Merlin sighs. "It pains me to hear that Ganos has died, and that Oma would join Hunt's group. And it worries me to hear that so many would die to Hunt's ambitions." Then, with a twinkle in his eye, he says, "However, it also gives me much joy to hear that Mordred has chosen the side of light again, and that Artoria is well, even if in another dimension." He muses. "I must think for a moment."

And so he closes his eyes, and hums something that sounds vaguely meditative.

"So... how's it going?" you glance at Mitchel as he re-enters the room.

"I just checked in with everyone outside," Mitchel answers."So far no luck with the DHD."

"Great," you sigh, and head over to talk to him.

"How is it going out here?" Mitchel asks.

"Well, I just gave quite the info dump, but, yeah... Merlin's up to speed," you glance at the old man. "He's considering it all, I think."

"Well, that's-" Mitchel is cut off as Merlin rouses, stands, and walks towards you. 

"Before I agree to joining with you," he looks you in the eyes. "I need to know that you are willing to do whatever must be done to see it through. To see that the Andromeda Ascendants are truly wiped out from this universe entirely. To ensure that all whose ambitions edge on the line of the Ori will be stopped."

"Of course," you nod. "I will see it through personally, if I have to."

"The same goes for any of us on our team, except for Ba'al, probably," Mitchel says. "But even he says he wants to see this through."

"Very well then," Merlin nods. "In that case, there is much work to be done."

And thus, he walks up to the knowledge device and activates it.

Apparently, this is a different model from before, because holograms begin forming in the air above you, cycling through parts and functions of a blueprint nature.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: JULY 5TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 01/13/0006.**

Your name is Cameron Mitchel, and a burst of light and a loud _**TOOOOOOMMM-SHINK!!!**_ heralds the sudden absence of the small rock that you were using as a pillow.

You groan as your head gets doused in cold and wet.

"What the hell?" You groan, getting to your feet, and peering out the cliffiside doorway into what used to be a desert but is now... well...

A snow covered forest, at night, with blowing snow flurries.

Shit. Damara called it alright.

"What the fuck happened?" You call down to the the scientists, who are quickly making their way away from the DHD as the Gate shuts down, and back up to the relatively warm sanctuary that is your current shelter.

"The gate activated on its own, and then the obelisk's crystal glowed," Jude answers. "It teleported us through before we realized what was happening."

"We must be on an internal circuit of planets cut off from the rest of the Gate Network," Ba'al summarizes. "I'd guess the modifications like entirely within the DHD."

"What if it's like Midway?" Jude asks. "Modified Gates, Modified DHD programs. It may not even be able TO connect to the regular gate network."

"In which case, we're royally screwed!" You gripe.

* * *

 

You are now Karkat Vantas, and you're talking on the phone to General O'neill as you head to your office in the SGC.

"So SG-1's basically been doing fuck knows what for the last day, and that basically tells me bup and kiss because guess what? Past me's memories are still fucked over from the Rift and keep updating in real time for me so I can't actually know for sure what the hell they're doing, if they're in trouble or need rescuing or what!" You fiddle with the keys to open the office door. " Because this mission they're on to find the Sangraal wasn't supposed to happen for another month according to my memories of the first time through! So I just have to say-!"

"Hi, Karkat!" one chipper John Egbert calls out in greeting as you open the door.

"Hello, Karkat," a smiling Rose Egbert greets as well.

"...I'm going to have to call you back, Jack," you say, and then hang up. "Egberts. What are you two doing here?" You glance around. "Where is your mother?"

"Aincrad," John  answers. "Mom went to talk with Roxy."

"Ah, right," you frown. "And why exactly are you in my office?"

"Because Uncle Davish and Jade had to chase down Nepeta and Penny because Jade figure out how to teleport people by accident when she sneezed," Rose answers.

"...She did what now?" you ask.

"She figured out how to teleport people by sneezing, duh!" John says. "Achoo! Flash of Green! Zap! Gone!"

You stare blankly, consulting your rapidly dwindling memories of a future timeline being changed by the massive ripple effect that was the Rift between Galaxies and... 

...But how does that relate to her usual power of messing with atoms and being a nuclear shotgun with marbles?

...Unless their personalities have started diverging enough that younger Jade's powers are diverging from what her older self has developed?

...And may the universe have mercy on your souls because you don't remember this at all from the last timeline.

 _"Huh,"_ you say. _"That's new."_

Dave suddenly enters your office, a giggling Penny in arm, and hands her over to you without a word before time-warping away. A few seconds later, another Dave enters, with a chattering Jade and Nepeta in tow.

"Would you believe," Dave starts, "that Jade sent them to two different levels?"

"I can buy that," you say, even as Penny starts grabbing at your hair. "Where'd they wind up?"

"Penny wound up in the infirmary and was harssing Doc Lam, and Nepeta got her way into the Mirror Lab... and then decided to go visit Aincrad because HEY! The Mirror was Open and that was where Roxy had gone!" Dave shakes his head.

"Sorry, Dad..." Nepeta apologizes, ears folding against her head. "I didn't mean to worry you. I just wanted to tell Aunt Roxy that Jade could teleport now..."

"It's fine, kiddo, it's not your fault," Dave plants a hand on her head and ruffles her hair a bit. 

"I'm sorry too, Uncle Davis," Jade apologizes, bowing sharply. "I'm... Really, really sorry. I- Ah..." Her nose wrinkles. "Aaah..." her head rears back...

Oh no.

"Oh no you don't!" And then another Dave time warps in, snatches Jade, and absconds from your office before the inevitable-

"AAAHCH-" ** _ZAP!_**

-Sneezing Teleport.

You glance out into the hallway, and see that both Jade and Dave have vanished again.

You hear your Dave sigh, as Rose laments aloud:

"I Think Jade should probably go see the infirmary, it might be an allergy she's developing to something causing the sneezing fits."

"Yeah, she was sneezing a lot this morning, wasn't she?" John asks, frowning.

"Zappy!" Penny exclaims, yanking at your hair. 

"Ow! Watch it, Mini-Harley," you warn. 

"Sowwy," Penny doesn't sound sorry at all. The little precocious tyke...

"Stay here with Karkat, kids, I'll be back as soon as I loop back around to stop Jade from teleporitng us all somewhere else," Dave shakes his head, and then warps away with a burst of time.

"Seriously, kids," you shake your head. "When did our lives get so damned complicated?"

"Can we go to Diaspora?" Nepeta asks. "I wanna hang out with Nep!"

"Ask Roxy when she gets back," you say. "Isn't she supposed to be watching you kids today, anyways?"

Rose then says the most damning words in existence: "Mom said she asked Uncle Davish to watch us for the day while she dealt with some family stuff."

 _ **ZAP!**_ "-CHOO!" And then Jade and Dave return with a flicker flash of green light... covered in lime green and cherry red jello.

Because of course Roxy would do that on the day Jade started developing teleporting powers... Of course she would...

* * *

 

"I can't do that! I'm tied down for the next month!" You are now Roxy Lalonde, and you're a bit fed up with your other self's meddling.

"But Alec and I haven't had a vacation in Years without the kids tagging along!" Your elder, female self claps her hands together and bows her head in pleading.

"Please! Can't you and Rose come watch the kids for a few weeks while the Atlantis Expedition is on hold?? Please??? Surely they don't need you two here for too much, right?"

"No, I mean," you glance up at her from the floor, where you're busy holding together two large conduit cables to ensure a constant power flow while Morgan Carter works on fixing the locking mechanism on the Case that's supposed to hold these two cables together without human intervention. "I'm literally tied down with work! The Expedition isn't on hold, it's just temporarily redirected elsewhere. Just because I'm a Mirror's Warp away instead of a Galaxy away, doesn't mean my schedule's suddenly cleared up. Why don't you ask Joey to watch the kids?"

"I..." Your other self pauses, considering that. "Oh, I'm so stupid. I really should have thought of that." She plants a hand to her face. "Sorry. I just thought you'd want to spend time with the kids and my mind jumped tracks to that without even considering other people..."

"Any other time, I'd be glad to," you say. "But as you can see, my current positioning holding this cable together isn't just a right now and done sort of thing."

"Even though I am almost done," Morgan says. "I think maybe five or so minutes before I've got it working again."

"And then it's off to the NEXT one, and the next one after that," you sigh. "And all the other broken locks after that. Seriously. This is what? The sixth one today?"

 **"Fourth, actually,"** Jolinar answers for Morgan. **"Someone was very redundant about ensuring the power failure through this part of the Castle. Even if we didn't know it was sabotage, I'd say it was sabotage."**

"It's a time waster is what it is," you remark.

* * *

 

"There is never enough time," Merlin huffed as he sat down on a couch after the latest building session.

You are Rider, and you frown, glancing at the device on the table. It started off as nothing, then it was a silver-blue dish, then a silver blue dish with arching frames and crystal trays, now, it has a blue dome overtop, with holes readily evident, ready and waiting for more parts to be added onto it.

You've already changed planets again, going from a snow blizzard covered world to... well. You honestly haven't checked. 

"I have lived so many lifetimes," Merlin continues on, staring at the device as well. "First, in Atlantis, then on Earth, before the dawn of your civilization... then I Ascended.  And finally came back down to Earth, mortal again, to live out my remaining days among the Noblemen of Artoria's Court." He paused, glancing at you,

"Or so I thought. All through these eons, only one thing has stayed the same, my constant companion. There is never enough time."

"Well, we're safe for now," you say. "Take all the time you need, Merlin."

"I fear I draw near the end of my life," Merlin says, voice sounding full of remorse. "I was already ancient as it was when I went into the ice. Now I'm feebler. Older... Another few years, and I may have slept too long. My body already begins betraying me."

"Do you think you can make it?" You ask. "To finish the Sangraal?"

"I pray that I can," Merlin says. "...But I fear that I may not be able to carry us over the finish line." he turns to look at you. "Oh, Mordred. You look so much like your Mother. She should have been there to raise you properly. Not... not what happened."

"What did happen?" You ask. "I only know what the Andromeda Ascendants told me, but I have my reasons to doubt that story now. And Artoria... Father hasn't exactly been forthcoming with the details when we've had the chance to talk."

"Mmh..." Merlin closes his eyes. "It is a sad tale. When Artoria took the sword Caliburn from its stone, she had to leave so much behind, including her identity as a woman, to protect everyone in her family that she cared about. It was such a hefty burden for a child her age to take on. The sword pracitcally halted her aging too, that much we told the truth on. Never aging, but always growing... and when that sword finally broke, and I spent so much time recreating it- reforging the idea into Excaliber- she took her time to finally grow and be her own person. She had you in secret, before the sword was finished." He sighes, tiredly. "We'd planned to pass you off as King Arthur's child with the Queen... but we never got the chance. You were stolen from us."

"The Andromeda Ascendants," you close your eyes, feeling bitter at the thought of a normal childhood being stolen from you like that. "Bastards." You look at Merlin, and see that he's gazing at you with... pity. A look you never thought he'd give you ever.

"We never realized you were the same Mordred when you came to us as a Knight seeking to join the table," Merlin says. "It had been only a year. A year in which you had aged sixteen, and came with a sword whose powers rivaled Excaliber... I realized far too late that they had stolen my designs for the replacement sword as well, and improved upon its functionality. Clarent- a sword able to channel the elements of reality..."

"And then I betrayed you when Father... when Artoria refused to acknowledge me as son," you lament.

"A folly of errors in communication," Merlin shakes his head. "We believed you to still be a babe, and a girl at that. A man claiming to be the King's lost son made no sense, especially given what we knew at the time. By the time we realized what they had done, it was too late. You had begun your war at their behest. We were embroiled in conflict... and Morgan and I had the Sangraal to safeguard."

You think about it all... but you really have to ask one major question. "Who was my father? My real one. If Artoria was my mother, then... someone had to be that person for me."

"The Queen's brother, as a matter of fact," Merlin answers.

You blink. "Huh. I don't think I ever met him."

"No, unfortunately he was slain during your kindapping," Merling sighs. "Another loss of life, regretably so." And then he gets up. "I must continue my work." And with that he heads towards the device that controls all of this. He pauses once he reaches it, though. "Mordred... Rider. Should I die before I can finish... I entrust you with finishing the Sangraal."

"I... I'll try my best," you say, and watch as he plugs himself into the control device again, green light spilling forth through the gaps as it activates.

He works for several more minutes, assembling holding arms that manifest atop of the domed surface...  
And then he stops, huffing from within the device, the green light fades... and then, he speaks, "I have run out of time. I am sorry, Mordred. Good Luck." And then the device flashes with white light, and releases him.

"MERLIN!" you rush to catch his body, and hold him as he breathes his last breath.

That's when Jonas and Vala come running back into the room.

"What happened?" Vala asks.

"...He's dead," you answer, quietly.

Not a few minutes later, the team is assembled around Merlin's body as you lay a blanket over his face.

"How exactly does he expect you to finish it?" Mitchel asks. "Did he tell you how it works?"

"No," you shake your head. "He didn't."

"I think it's probably," Cassandra stops mid sentence. "Ah. Hold on one second."

Then there's a burst of light- _**TOOOOOOMMM-SHINK!!!**_ \- and then the room's temperature changes, and Merlin's body vanishes, but everything else remains the same.

"Bye Merlin," Jude laments.

"Annnyways," Cassie coughs. "I think Merlin probably downloaded some specific information into the device about how to finish the Sangraal."

"Well, I'm definitely not sticking my head in that," Jonas says, glancing at the head grabbing device.

"He asked me to," you say. "It's probably keyed to me... And I can't believe that. I can't believe that after everything with Excaliber shocking me every time I try holding it..."

"Well beyond that," Ba'al says. "If you can finish the weapon, then it needs to be finished. Meanwhile, the rest of us working on the Stargate should get the Stargate working."

"He's got a point," Jude sighs. "Shall we get back to it then?"

"Yeah," Mitchel says, "but I want us in groups. Vala, Jonas, Cassie, stay with Rider while he works on finishing the Sangraal. The rest of us will work on the Gate."

Everyone who heads out heads out, and you look to Cassandra. She nods in go-ahead.

And with that, you take a step up to the interface device and--

* * *

 

"I'm nostalgic for a desert I never saw," you are Damara Megido, and after hours of searching through the DHD's memory, you finally found the address they all went to. "This time, however, the solution should be simple."

You approach the DHD again, and begin to search through the DHD's database once more. Shockingly, there are a thousand more addresses than there were in the last one. How insane of a device is this?

No, someone was meticulous in hiding the real needle in a haystack. 

Oh well, it does not matter.

You. Will. Find. Them.

And then you will steal the Sangraal for your own plans... just maybe not today if that's what's in the cards.

* * *

 

"Well, at least it's Warm," Ba'al gripes.

You are Jude Harley, and you can only sigh at the vaguely changed familiar landscaping.

The cliff is the same, the general shape of the landscape is the same... but instead of desert sands or blowing snow wind... there are pine trees and fog.

"And I think we know vaguely where we are in the galaxy," Mitchel says, pointing up at the morning sky...

"Is that what I think it is?" Ba'al asks.

"The rift between galaxies," you confirm. "We're on the far edge of Milky Way."

The bright, blue lined, oddly background colored rift seems to be super-imposed in the sky, much like the view from Minkata in Pegasus, or the Water Moon that Atlantis landed on. 

"No better place to hide Merlin and the Sangraal than the edge of the known galaxy," Mitchel says. "Who'd think to hide something there, right?"

"...That's a good point," you say. "Who'd think to hide something outside of where you'd expect to see something?"

"What are you talking about?" Ba'al asked.

"We've been searching inside the DHD and the Stargate, right?" you ask. "For the protocol that's teleporting us?"

"Obviously because that's the most logical place for such a program to be," Ba'al says, crossing his arms. "...Don't tell me you think it's somewhere else. Like the Cave. That'd just be stupid to put it there."

"No, I think it's right in plain sight," you gaze at the giant metal spike covered in ancient writing and a blue diamond that keeps glowing every time you're teleported somewhere. "What if the Obelisk doesn't JUST have beaming protocols inside it?"

"...A self contained device that does all the dirty work at once," Ba'al summarizes. "That's... insane. Honestly, I don't think that's the case at all. It doesn't fit with the usual Ancient modus operandi."

"How's that?" Mitchel asks.

"They don't LIKE putting all their eggs in one basket," Ba'al says. "Not in my experience when it comes to security devices like this. Do you know how many Ancient Labs I've uncovered over the Millenia that have had multiple redundancies similar to this? Redirection modules, forceshields, so on and so forth. Even Anubis followed their design sensibilities when it came to redundant operational security. The Ancients would NEVER do that. Everything gets spread out into as many places as possible to prevent people from foiling the security measures."

You honestly find THAT ONE hard to believe... but...

"Maybe that's the point," you tell him. "It's not how the Ancients Moros and Ganos Lal would do things. It's how Merlin and Morgan Le Fay would do things."

"So the Obelisk is a magic wand?" Mitchel asks.

"Let's pry it open and find out," you decide, decaptchaloguing a knife.

"...I think the Obelisk is a dead end, but you may be right about the key being elsewhere," Ba'al says. "I'm going to search the Cave for anything hidden."

* * *

 

_The sounds of conversation flow back to you, muted as if from under water._

_You open your eyes, and wonder for a moment who you are exactly._

_Then, you remember._

_You are RIDER, and you just stuck your head into a thing._

_You're also pretty sure that you're reliving one of Merlin's memories, because you're in the same room that you were before, except that Morgan and Merlin are standing here, talking about something you can't quite place._

_The completed Sangraal sits on the table before you in two pieces, the completed base of the device, and a glowing orange crystal resting in a bowl next to it._

_Finally, Merlin speaks something legible, "It is already done, Morgan. The device is ready. All it needs to do is be hidden away in the two pieces to be reassembled."_

_"The others will not allow that, Merlin," Morgan answers. "I don't know why they haven't struck us down for even getting it this far."_

_"They are blinded with the war Mordred is fighting at the Andromeda's behest," Merlin says, shaking his head. "I pray Artoria can hold her own until we return."_

_"Until I return," Morgan corrects. "Even if I destroy the Sangraal and am seen to be returning to Earth in your presence... they will know I did not complete my mission."_

_"So I am to 'die' then?" Merlin glances at the stasis chamber. "A shame, I was hoping to see Artoria redeem Mordred."_

_"She may yet prevale," Morgan says. "But that is besides the point. The Others will not allow this device to be reassembled. It must be destroyed now and be recreated only in a time of dire need."_

_"Then I will commit the blueprints to memory," Merlin sighed. "A shame. Really. I was hoping to have a much more restful nap."_

And then your mind is flooded with the remainder of information required to finish off the Sangraal and turn it on, and you wake up seeing stars.

"Woah, easy there, Newbie," Vala says, helping you up off your back, and handing you a cantene. "You've been out of it for a few minutes. How's your head?"

You take a hefty gulp of water, and focus yourself.

"Feels like I got ran over by a Dragon, but I think I'm good," you blink, but the stars refuse to leave your vision... "Excepf for the stars I'm still seeing..." you blink again. "Wait. No. They're not just stars. I think they're... I think I see what I'm supposed to do now." You stand, barely able to balance with the odd weight inside your head, let alone walk due to the glowing dots in your eyes.

"Here," Cassandra and Vala help you over to the control device, and you look into it.

_**And You See What You Need To Do.** _

* * *

 

You are now Damara Megido, and you frown as you look down upon the body of a dead man. 

Merlin, perhaps.

You think you are close.

You turn back to the DHD, and start the process all over again. 

You will have it soon enough.

* * *

 

"Ah, fuck," you are Jude Harley, and you feel so dumb. "What the fuck is this code base?"

Using a tablet computer to interface, you're looking at the data contained on the control crystals within the Obelisk... and none of it makes any sense.

"You can't read it?" Ba'al asks, returning from his fruitless search of the lab. "Well, that's hardly surprising. By Galactic Stnadards you're not very smart, even if you might be one of the brightest of the Tau'ri to land on SG-1. But I think Colonel Carter might just be smarter than even you, boy. Shame she decided to leave the grand life of adventure for settling down with that General Jerk O'neill. TWICE!"

You glare at him. Mitchel glares at him. 

And then Ba'al stupidly insinuates something about how he'd be a better husband than Jack O'neill ever would.

That's when you shove the tablet's screen in his face hard enough to crack glass.

Literally. 

The glass on the thing breaks and Ba'al stumbles backwards with a bloodied nose and some shards of glass in his face.

"OW! What was THAT for!?" Ba'al asked without a single sense of common sense.

"If you're not going to help," you say, "and instead make stupid, fucked up comments about people I consider VERY important to me, then you're not much use to us, and if you're not much use to us, then there's no point in keeping you around..." you take out the knife you used to pry open the Obelisk. _**"Now, either help me decode this damned source code, or I gut you from your host, cook you for dinner, and then EAT YOU so I can learn how to read it myself."**_  
  
Ba'al coughs, then says. "I'd... ah. Well. I'd be glad to help. Just chipper, really. Fine and dandy. Not a problem. Haha... Okay. Just, uh... Ow. Could someone get me some tweezers first? My face is a bit, ah, scratched up? Also a little numb."

"Deal With it," Mitchel says. "We're done with the free handouts."

"...Fair enough," Ba'al grunts.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, two separate instances of Samantha Carter felt a sudden urge to laugh at the expense of Ba'al, though they had no real idea as to why.

Two instances of Jolinar felt like whatever it was some version of Ba'al had done somewhere to trigger their Carters' laughter, he probably deserved it.

Elsewhere, two different verisons of Jack O'neill felt the urge to thank Jude Harley for something the first chance they got.

Meanwhile, a lone and solitary Lantash shuddered at the odd thought of the prospect of ever getting on the bad side of anyone with the last name "Harley."

* * *

 

Your name is Cassandra Fraiser-Harely, and you suddenly feel a mixture of vibes as-

**_TOOOOOOMMM-FWASH!_ **

And with a flashing burst of light, a crimson orb settles down in a metal bowl next to the Sangraal’s completed shell.

Rider steps away backwards from the control machine, so very tiredly and almost fainting, just barley caught by Vala and Jonas as you suddenly feel a horrible vibe. 

You captchalogue both chunks of the Sangraal immediately.

“Get to the Gate, NOW!” You order.

* * *

 

You are now Cameron Mitchel, and you sigh in relief as Jude reports:

“Command Override found and disabled!” he says with a grin as he and Ba’al close up the Obelisk.

“Good,” you say. “Now dial us out before-”

The Stargate starts dialing in.

“Take Cover!” You order. 

Jude and you take cover behind some trees, Ba’al hides behind the DHD.

**_WAAA WAAA! KAWOOOOOSH!_ **

And then through the eventhorizon steps a naked woman wreathed in the light of an Ascended being, her ‘modesty’ only preserved by the light itself. Accompanying her on either side are a Jaffa and a Lucian Alliance goon.

 _ **“I am Rebeka Vaylentyne,”**_ The woman announces, _**“of the Andromeda Ascendant!  I demand to know who killed my servant, Harper,**_ **NOW!”**

Ba’al risks raising his head, “Ah, was he a scrawny fellow with sort of pale blond hair?”

 _ **“YES,”**_ the Ascendant woman’s voice bellows.

“Then, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but he was eaten by a dragon,” Ba’al answers.

 ** _“I see.”_** Then the woman throws a burning disk of fire at the snake, and Ba’al throws himself to the side to dodge.

The gate shuts down as the DHD’s side shatters with an explosive impact.

“Ah, crap,” you swear, and then open fire on the Jaffa and Lucain Alliance goons.

The Ascendant Woman throws up a glowing wall-shield of fire that absorbs the blast.

 **“YOU FOOLS WILL DIE!”** she declares. **_“WE WILL TAKE MERLIN’S WEAPON AND STOP YOU FROM STOPPING US!!”_**

And then out of nowhere the Stargate suddenly activates again with a _ **KAWOOOOOSH!**_

The fire wall, the two guards, and the Ascendant woman all vanish as the vortex stabilizes, and _**TOOOOOOM-SHINK!**_

Suddenly, Damara Megido stands next to the wrecked DHD. She stares at it for a few moments, then laughs. “I suppose I hit the end of the line, then,”

Before the Stargate shuts down again, the Ascended Woman dives back through the eventhorizon, roaring in rage, _**“YOU WITCH!”**_

“That is Me, Yes,” Damara takes a step around the DHD, summoning Clarent into her hand. “Bluh Bluh, Huge Witch. Feel free to complain to my Manager.”

And then a laugh burst from Damara's mouth as the Ascended bitch throws a burst of fire at Damara- which she deflects with the sword right back at the Stargate, almost as if she knew it was about to happen.

The Stargate electrifies and the chevrons flash dangerously in synch upon absorbing the energy. You don't think it can take another hit like that.

“Oh. Wait,” Damara starts to smirk even as you catch sight of Vala, Jonas, Cassie, and Rider emerging from the cave. _**“I AM MY OWN MANAGER!”**_

* * *

 

Your name is Jonas Quinn, and you stare at the battlefield as its soon to become with horror.

Damara Megido versus an Andromeda Ascendant?

This can’t end well.

You see Ba’al sneaking away into the forest, and Mitchel and Jude quickly running for cover closer to you while the Ascendant is distracted.

You do a headcount. You, Vala, Cassie, Rider, Mitchel, Jude. Six. Good. Everyone’s together.

And then Damara swings her sword towards the lot of you and-

Everyone tumbles into a pile in warm desert sands.

“...Uh... This is an unexpected visit. But I suppose it is a timely one.”

You look up, and see Skaara of Abydos standing over you all, looking quite confused. 

“...Did you not take the Stargate?” he asks, sounding genuinely concerned as you all start to disengangle from the pile Damara dumped you in.

You do another headcount again. Yes, everyone is here still. All six of you.

“It’s a long story, Skaara,” Cassie answers.

“Well, it is just time for breakfast,” Skaara says. “if you are all hungry?”

Your stomach growls. Vala’s stomach growls soon after, and then everyone else’s stomachs growl in short order.

“Yeah,” Jude says. “I think we could go for breakfast.”

“I have to wonder though,” Vala starts. “What happened to Ba’al?”

“Who cares?” Rider asks with a groan. “I’m hungry. That question can wait until after we eat.”

* * *

 

You are now Ba’al, and you suddenly find yourself face down in a pile of snow.

...

...

...

Damn it, Damara totally did leave you out in the cold, didn’t you?

You pick yourself up and find you’re back on the frozen ice planet.

Oh well, atleast you know how to disable the damned DHD override now. 

...

...

...You didn’t bring any of the equipment with you.

Damn it all.

What the hell is Damara playing at?

* * *

 

You are Damara Megido...

**_“CLARENT HEART!”_ **

And you’ve ensured another of the Andromeda Ascendants ranks was erased from existence.

Now, if everything goes according to plan... the fools on SG-1 will take care of the rest within the next few days... leaving you free and clear to focus all of your plans on the true endgame. You will let them keep the Sangraal for now. It will not matter much...

The Ascended Clowns are about to be shooed off of the stage.

_**Permanently.** _

Now then. To go back in time, pretend to be a Librarian for a few hours, and then get unceremoniously blasted by a Dragon Mine into the forest. Probably make a few dazzling predictions too, to throw them off their game. 

You might actually have fun with this time loop.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter: The Reactions from the Andromeda Folk.
> 
> SO! Let's talk Wyverns! That was a WYVERN in SG-1, not a dragon. It's a WYVERN in The Elder Scrolls, too. They're WYVERN in body structure, NOT dragon. So from a certain point of view, they were right. That WASN'T a dragon. It was a Wyvern. It also ripped off the attack patterns from ESO ELSWEYR-- those aerial flame passes from above always seem to get one to three people at once. Just... a row of +'s showing people to be revived right in the flames. They learn, eventually, to dodge. 
> 
> Dragon went HARD MODE with Excaliber present. Even the Ganos Lal passcode that SHOULD have shut it down didn't. 
> 
> We get to see some payoff to the predictions Damara made. Makes you wonder about the REST of it, huh?
> 
> Damara is also not infallible. She did get caught off guard by that Wyvern there. Wasn't even a dragon, really. 
> 
> Major Butterfly from Canon, the SANGRAAL is COMPLETE and the team got it as they escaped. How about that? This puppy's going off a couple of episodes sooner than it did in canon. Friday's chapter, actually. 
> 
> Damara's plan is *rapidly* coming together in shape and form and scope. I think you guys are going to be surprised by what she's got in store. ^^


	37. MINISODE: A Panic Button

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> In which being a being of pure energy doesn't excuse you from having a panic reflex.

**EARTH DATE: JULY 5TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 01/13/0006.**  
  
Velika the ascended being pretending to be a sentient maintenance robot within an even larger giant robot that had crashed landed on a moon was scheming, seething, and desperately trying to make up a new plan of action.

The Atlantis Expedition had left, finally, but they’d left behind PROPER LANTEANS!

The bastards were already subtly probing the facility on the shattered planet below looking for who knows what, and were going to start scanning the moon any day now.

He had to distract them.

He had to get rid of them.

And unfortunately, there was only one option.

The Asurans.

And Velika began creating a probe that would launch out of the system, and deliver a message to the Asurans. 

It was as he was putting the finishing touches on it that his damned niece showed up again to harass him.

“Go away, Trance. I am BUSY.”

“And we have a PROBLEM,” she countered. “One that affects you.”

“And what problem might that be?” He asked, annoyed.

“The Humans of Earth have found and constructed a weapon that can Destroy Ascended Beings.”

Were he in possession of knowledge of what a record was, Velika’s mind would have played a sharp record scratching sound.

“...They. What?” Velika turned away from his probe, turning to look at his niece. He saw genuine panic in her eyes.

Her own Death was all but a certainty for her.

“Morros designed a weapon against the Ori, but the humans plan on using it against us within Milky Way!” Trance explains. “And I fear they won’t stop there. Pegasus, Alternia... even the Ori home galaxy. Every part of the universe they have access to, they might very well set this weapon off. Everything we’ve worked to accomplish- both of us even with our differing plans- will be for NOTHING if they are allowed to get away with this!”

Suddenly, the Lanteans within Atlantis seemed so small of a problem in comparison.

Velika told his Niece to please wait for a few minutes while he put a pause on his business here in this Galaxy.

And so he did. He took to his vessel, and he set up its fledgling Intelligence that he had suppressed with false memories and a behavioral pattern matching that which he had fronted for all those thousands of years. Nobody would know the difference until he returned.

He took his probe, and he launched it into hyperspace. It would travel to Asuras, and within it was a message informing them of Atlantis’ position, that the Lanteans- their creators- were once more at home there... and of how the Asurans could modify their own source code to ignore their fatal flaw. 

And then...

Velika left Pegasus to go with his Niece back to Milky Way.

The first thing they had to do was secure as many of their forces and resources as they could, if not from this world, then another. The fools would surely set off the weapon to cause as much damage to this galaxy as they could.  
  
The thought that he should have just stayed in Pegasus never crossed Velika's kind. After all, his plans and preparations would mean nothing if he did not personally secure this weapon and destroy it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not really a spoiler: they're making it up as they go along at this point. These Andromeda folk have suffered so many setbacks their plans are getting setback before they're even finished being planned. 
> 
> Funny what the subject of death among supposedly immortal beings can do, huh? Yeah, they're... really not thinking things through. They're really, really, really not thinking things through.
> 
> Tomorrow: Line in the Sand. I apologize in advance for the feels bomb at the end of chapter. Monday: Damara asks an open ended question.


	38. SG1:10X12: Line In The Sand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies, it's another pause.

"I do not understand why you have returned so suddenly, Uncle," Trance of the Andromeda Ascendants of the Corinth Timeline asked as she followed her Uncle through the halls and planes of that higher plane of existence. 

"All will become clear to you soon, Trance," Velika said with a firm nod as he delivered Trance to their destination.

"Wait, what is this?" Corinth Trance stopped cold in her symbolic, mind-scape only feet as she came face to face with herself.

_**Herself from another timeline.** _

"Hello, me," That Trance held out her hand. "It's time we had a talk."

"...There is nothing to Talk About," Corinth Trance demanded, turning to glare at her uncle. "You are with her, aren't you?"

"Yes," he smiled apologetically. "And I was so afraid you were going to say that."

And then the Trance Gemini of the Corinth timeline found herself attacked by her alternate self and the two energy beings began to violently merge together into a cohesive whole.

Velika could only shake his head. "Such a vast, vast shame you could not listen to our bargain and rejected it outright."

Far in the distance, but still able to observe, the Corinth Timeline's Ganos Lal observed these events with horror gleaming across her eyes like a flashlight being smash cut into-

* * *

**EARTH DATE: JULY 6TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 01/14/0006.**

Your name is Rider, and you flinch as a pen light is shone into your eyes.

“Seriously, Doc?” You ask.

“You’re just lucky I was called in to do this instead of Carolyn,” Doctor Fraiser smiles. “I have it on good authority she’s taken to using the pen light in the eyes far more often than i ever have.”

“...Fair,” you concede the point.

"Well," Fraiser says after a few more moments of checking your eye reactions. "It looks like the reaction you had to the download device was much less severe than General O'neill and Jonas ever received. If I had to guess, it was probably the equivalent of one or two files rather than a whole library of data- even a human's brain could probably handle that. Not only that, most of it seems to have erased itself already."

"Yeah," you say. "That tracks. For a little while there I felt like Merlin's ghost was hanging around in my head but that's... pretty much gone now."

"Then I'd say you're cleared to resume duty for the time being," Fraiser says. "But if you start feeling woozy in the head, come see me immediately."

"Okay," You nod, get out of the infirmary bed you'd been forced to sit on since you returned from Abydos of all places yesterday afternoon, and head as fast as you can for the route that'll take you to the Conference room the quickest..

You don your jacket as you run, and can't help but smile as you go.

Today's the day. Today's the day you're going to finish this mission, and then you'll talk with Artoira and... and you'll have so much more to talk about.

Merlin left you with a memory of the hours after your birth. Artoria holding you and smiling and...

You're going to properly make amends.

You arrive in the conference room just in time as Jude finishes setting up the projector.

SG-1 is here, General Landry is here... and General O'neill, Samantha Carter, Egeria, and Teal'c are here.... and so is a man named Orlin, who you recognized as a former Ascended being who had descended to mortal form years ago.

"Fraiser clear you?" General O'neill asks. You nod, taking your seat. "Alright then. Guess it's briefing time."

Jude leads off with a summary of the last two days, with the rest of SG-1 chiming in with the details where appropriate. You cover everything about the quest to recover the Sangraal and it's successful reconstruction. 

Once you're all finished, Teal'c begins his own summary.

"As of this morning, the Lucian Alliance has been observed to be retreating from existing territorial boundaries, and are regrouping in a centralized location," Teal'c reports. "Jaffa spies we planted among those of Gerak's followers who still persist have reported that they are gathering on a single planet near the center of the Milky Way Galaxy, just outside of orbit of the Black Hole there."

"Why there?" General O'neill asks.

 **"After some discussion, Teal'c and I believe they are preparing for a pre-emptive assault,"** Egeria answers. **"Likely, they assume we will attempt to use the Sangraal somewhere in the vicinity of that Black Hole to launch our attack against the Andromeda Ascendants."**

"Were we?" O'neill asks.

"It'd make the most sense to activate it there," Carter says, "Make the two circles- the Galaxy and the radius of the Sangraal- overlap as much as possible. But Orlin and I got to talking, and we think a better place to launch our attack would be P3Y-229."

"The Corinth Rift?" General Landry asks. "Why there?"

"Our Galaxy doesn't have nearly as many Ascended beings within it," Carter says. "They've been wiped out by the Andromeda Ascendants."

"And those that survived would have gone into hiding," Orlin chimes in. "Likely, they would have either fled to another galaxy, or they would have descended to mortal form again. Within the blast radius of this galaxy, the Sangraal would be overkill. Merely assembling the device will draw them in to attack where-ever it is, meaning we can afford to not use its energy directly focused upon them."

"Given that the Corinth Timeline branched off from ours when General Hammond failed to follow the instructions for the timeloop he wrote himself, or, atleast, that's our best guess for how it formed, we're fairly certain that the Andromeda Ascendants are still around in THEIR dimension as well, given that the split was only a couple decades ago," Carter pauses, then, Jolinar speaks.

**"If we are to fire off the Sangraal within proximity to the Corinth Rift on P3Y-229, a vast majority of the energy should transmute across the rift into their reality as well, preventing them from attempting similar to that reality, as well as hindering them from crossing over into our reality seeking vengeance or seeing a vaccuum to fill."**

"What about everyone else in that world's Ascended plane?" Landry asks. "Won't they be wiped out too?"

 **"They would, but that population also includes that timeline's Anubis, and also possibly their Lord English as well,"** Jolinar concedes the point. 

"We've asked the SGC of their timeline for a proper situation assessment of their galaxy," Egeria says. "Sans Replicator involvement, it seems the galactic stage there is beginning to accelerate into a state similar to how our Galaxy was when Anubis and English were terrorizing our galaxy. However, they are putting up a vastly more united front than they did in our reality, given a lack of Earth based meddling to provoke events into a similar path."

"There's also the fact that we don't know if the Sangraal will work for more than one shot," Carter adds. "It's entirely possible it's a glass cannon."

"So it's a kill four birds with one stone sort of situation?" O'neill asks. 

"Indeed," Teal'c nods grimly. 

You decide to chime in, "If the Andromeda Ascendants of their timeline are aware of what's going on, they might try to fill the gap here in this timeline when we've wiped them out if we don't do things right. I know Hunt would almost certainly try to take over. And Trance... if she's desperate enough, she might just try to recruit them to her side anyways."

"General?" Landry asks of O'neill.

"I'm in," he nods. "We have to take the risk to get rid of that world's Anubis too. If the Dakara Weapon's energy can transmit through the Corinth Rift it might affect our universe."

"Then it's settled then," Landry says. "SG-1, you've got the go ahead. I'll leave it to the rest of you to coordinate."

"Alright then," Mitchel claps his hands. "Let's do this thing."

"Yes," O'neill agrees. "Let's!"

* * *

 

**[O<\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw) **

* * *

 

The BC-304 ODYSSEY dropped out of hyperspace over P3Y-229, joining the fleet of Jaffa and Tok'ra Ha'taks in orbit, securing the planet.

"Master Bra'tac," Teal'c hails the fleet lead Ha'tak from the Odyssey. "We have arrived."

"Good," the elderly Jaffa smiles. "Maybe then we shall win the day today, yes?"

"We can only hope," Teal'c says with a nod.

Samantha Carter joins Teal'cs side. "Master Bra'tac, good to see you again."

"It has only been a few hours, Colonel Carter," Bra'tac smiles nods. "But the feeling is mutual. As you requested, we've monitored the rift on both sides for signs of an energy transferrence, and we believe we have recorded two Ascended Beings traversing the the rift from our side to theirs just this morning." he tapped at a console, and transmitted the data.

"Receiving... Thank you, Bra'tac," Carter smiles. "It looks about exactly how we expected it would if the Andromeda Ascendants ever tried crossing the rift."

* * *

Corinth Timeline's Mordred stopped in their idle pacing as they saw Ganos Lal approach.

"Well, after a few hundred years you finally get the courage to talk to me again," Mordred smirked. "What do you want?"

"Trance was just consumed by an alternate version of herself from another timeline," Ganos reports. 

"...So that's what I felt," Mordred frowned. "I'd felt the ripples in reality... Damn it. So the rumors were true after all! There's a whole other timeline out there connected to Earth, isn't it?"

"That's where she came from, yes," Ganos nodded. "I think I know why she came here to our world and attempting such a rushed maneuvor. She's lost. Badly. And what's more, she's being hunted."

"I've had my doubts that we'd ever pull our plans off," Mordred shook their head. "Ah, if only Anubis were out of the picture, I'd leave for the mortal plane immediately to go reclaim my Sword."

"That may be the safest bet even with Anubis on the prowl," Ganos decided. "I believe that other timeline has reassembled Merlin's weapon."

"You mean the thing you went to destroy?" Mordred asked, head tilting like an annoyed dog. "I thought you destroyed it."

"I did, in this timeline," Ganos frowned as she masked her lie seamlessly. "But there's no telling when that other one diverged from us." 

"Yeah, fair point," Mordred glanced around. "So... You think they're planning on using it on their version of this place?"

"It's possible, more probable," Ganos nods. "However... I suspect they're also going to use it on our reality as well, hijacking that rift between our dimensions to do so."

"Why?" Mordred asked.

"Obviously... they don't want to risk Their Trance recruiting our versions of your little group," Ganos surmized.

"...Not mine anymore, if they lost that badly even with my help," Mordred said with a grim tone of voice. And then a small smirk, "Well, Earth sounds nice this time of year. All... worn down and apocalyptic. I hear they're rebuilding. What do you think?"

"Are you offering to join me in escaping this insanity?" Ganos asked.

"Obviously," Mordred answered. 

"Then yes," Ganos answered. "The Mortal Plane is easily going to be ten times safer than the Ascended Plane at this rate."

And so, they immediately left that exact second, descending down to mortal form once more upon the planet Earth.

* * *

You are now Jack O'neill, and you suit up for battle. 

Hoo. The old BDU still fits like a glove though- especially the glove parts.

"We've just got word that two Ascendants traveled through the rift," Sam walks into your shared room on the Odyssey- not enough spare rooms, after all, to take up two separate rooms, after all...

You see the glint of metal on her ring finger, and remind yourself not to fall back into that mental trap.

"So, this Trance chick and an escort?" You ask.

Sam nods. "They're likely recruiting aid from the other dimension's group as we speak."

"Or worse, cannibalizing them," you grimace. "Any word on the Lucian Alliance?"

"Beyond the fact they're still staging ground? Teal'c's spies have reported that they've located a lot of the Mofang slaves that were taken from their new homeworld," Sam reports. 

"Ah, lovely that. Alternia's response?" You ask.

"They got the word just a little before Teal'c did, and are already dispatching the full Ultrazord to the center of the Galaxy to rescue the prisoners," Jolinar answers instead. "Colonel Claire sends her regards on a successful mission, by the way, though she's sitting this one out."

"Decided to finally retire, huh?" You ask.

"Partly that, partly the fact that she just had all the kids dropped on her lap to watch for the forseeable future," Jolinar smiles cheekily. "Apparently The Egberts are taking a long overdue vacation without any kids tagging along."

"Fun, that," you say, getting to your feet. "So... We're good to go then?"

"We're ready as we're going to be," Sam answers. "Just got to head down to the planet and wait."

"The not so fun part!" you shake your head. "I always hate waiting for the fireworks. Haven't missed this part one bit."

* * *

 

Trance Gemini walked into the metaphorical room, boasting a presence that made all of the Corinth Timeline's Andromeda Ascendants turn to look at her in shock and awe. All of them were present save for Mordred, who had yet to arrive. 

"Trance..." Corinth Hunt began, "What have you done?"

"The start to righting a great wrong," she began her prepared speech. "Another Timeline has reassembled Merlin' weapon- the Sangraal- and plan to use it against us as they've already begun using it against their world. I have absorbed the survivor of their massacre- another me. None live. Their world line is ripe for the taking and ours... we can leave it to Anubis."

The others didn't need convincing at that point.

* * *

 

A storm of heavenly wrath- glowing thunder and booming light- descended upon Corinth City, making their way towards the rift in space time leading to another dimension.

Observing from a safe location through Binoculars, you are now Doctor Callie Ohphee and as they drew closer, and closer...

You calmly grab your radio, and transmit, "SG-1, I think you're not going to get a better shot out of this than right the hell now."

 _"Roger that, Callie,"_ Sam replies.

You hold your breath, and wait for the inevitable.

* * *

 

"Hold it," you are Cassandra Fraiser, and you interject as Jude is about to place the orb of the Sangraal onto the device itself.

"What?" Jude asks.

"Vibes," you say. "Just... Give it a few seconds..."

"This thing is going to have a few seconds of build up as it is!" Jude reminds you.

"I know!" You say. "NOW!" 

He places the orb down, the whole device lights up, and Rider presses the big shiny button to turn it on.

The Sangraal begins to pulse with energy.

And you feel the vibes flow properly...

Damara isn't intervening. She wants this to work just as badly as you do.

...They're coming.

"The Rest of the Ascendants are descending towards us now," you report. "ETA in FIVE..."

You glance at the giant rift beside you, and see a storm of energy hurtling towards the rift from their end...

"FOUR..."

You glance the other way.

A storm of glowing light emerged from the sun above P3Y-229, and frantically began rushing towards the planet below- specifically, the glowing rift you're positioned at.

"THREE..." You close your eyes.

Then, the vibes settle out, and...

"TWO-" The Sangraal fires off a pulsewave of energy.

* * *

 

From orbit of P3Y-229, a flash of light can be seen briefly on the surface, and then the massive storm of energy descending towards it seems to be blown away like colored smoke in a sharp breeze, dispersing without effect.

* * *

 

Velika realized something was wrong when nothing came to intercept their approach towards the rift.

Too late! it was too late! They'd decided to hit both Universes in the same--

And then Velika and the rest of his Ascendant companions suddenly found it hard to think as a wave of energy rushed into them, and scattered their very essences, rubbing them all out like an eraser removes a streak of marker ink from a whiteboard.

They had run out of Time.

* * *

 

Corinth Timeline's version of Anubis and Lord English relished as they began their approach towards the planet CHULAK.

Everything was in place for their plan to continue at--

And then something went wrong.

English felt as if he suddenly had a pounding headache as all of the massive stores of Ascended energy he'd consumed began to twist, churn, and suddenly vanish from within his body.

The Ori he had eaten were being erased.

And then Anubis began shrieking in pain. His cries sounded like an Alternian Terror Bird to English... but to you, dear viewers...

It sounds exactly like how a Pterodactyl would cry out in pain before being silenced by a Spinosaurs' massive jaws.

Anubis suddenly vanished from English's side, and English himself found himself crashing face first into the deck of his Mecha-ship, suddenly ten sizes too small for the clothes he had worn.

He had been unprepared for such a stunt, even after sensing the death of one of his alternate selves.

After all... this was completely different from being cut off from ones followers.

This?

This was the after-taste of someone literally carving out his stomach while it was still full of food... and leaving him to BLEED OUT.

* * *

 

And then you open your eyes, and you exhale in relief.

"It's done." You say, watching as the Sangraal's glowing orb dims, and the device powers down. "We're in the clear."

And in who knows how many years in the future, once the effects of the Time Dilation of a black hole allowed that energy wave to catch up, what was left of the Lord English and Anubis of your worldline would be erased as well.

It was done.

_It was done._

**_IT. WAS. DONE._ **

And you fall to your knees as you sense nothing dangerous in the immediate future.

Jude moves to hug you tight, and you sob.

There's nothing for you to feel from the Vibes anymore. Damara's suppressing it again, somehow.

...You've cleared the board for Damara to have her way with the Galaxy... or worse.

* * *

 

"...I hate to say it," you are now Samantha Carter. "But... I was expecting we'd have to put up more of a fight."

"Agreed," Jack agrees, looking down at his P-90. "I was kinda hoping to get some shots off. But nope. Just... nothing. Kind of anticlimatic, wasn't it?"

"Compared to killing off three enemies at once at the same relativisitic time?" You ask. "Yeah. It kinda was."

"Think we killed Corinth Timeline's Anubis AND English?" Jack asks.

"Who knows." You answer.

Jolinar nudges, and you let her speak. **"I suspect that Anubis is definitely double dead... But... Thinking about what SG-1 heard Damara say, about a remnant of Lord English existing somewhere? I think he's what she was talking about. Corinth Timeline's English has to have survived... I think."**

You swallow upon hearing those words. "I... I really hope we're mistaken on that."

"Yeah. Same here," Jack agrees.

* * *

**EARTH DATE: JULY 9TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 01/17/0006.**

[_"It's been ONE WEEK since you looked at me!"_](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fC_q9KPczAg) Karkat Vantas the Middle sang as he listened to his MP3 player two whole rooms down from you within the Delta Megaship's crew quarters.

Your name is Terezi Pyrope, and you've got bigger problems to consider than Karkat's wall-piercing singing. 

During that little gap in narrative contrivance that Damara allowed to let the Sangraal plan go through without a hitch... you had a Vision. Well, rather, several visions playing out all at once.

A swarm of flying laser pointers swarming a city at sea. A dance of dogs and cats being crashed by a giant ear of corn. A horse being stuffed inside of another, much larger horse by a giant raven inside a funhouse's vast mirror hall. A guy named STARSKY (by his name tag floating over his head) sliding over a red car with a white stripe along the sides to get at the driver's seat.

Dirk Strider, of all people, wearing a flashy pink Tiara and biting off a chunk of meat the size of his own head from a giant spaceship sized turkey-bird that was branded with Jake Harley's grinning face on like it had been grilled on a grill with that exact pattern in the metal. And then he was chased off by two giant dogs- one dog covered in giant red fish and cotton candy... the other one with a giant building shaped like a witches hat on its head.

...You're pretty sure Damara was just fucking with you for the fun of it on that last one. Sure, your visions can be steeped in metaphor, but what the hell does that last one even MEAN?

Nothing. That's what it means.

One of those wolves was literally covered in RED HERRINGS.

Seriously, even you keep up with the media tropes of television and movies, even with your blindness. You know what a red herring is.

You're pretty sure the city at sea is Atlantis. Laser pointers are... Replicators?  You'll forward that along.

And the dog and cat dance is... uh.... who knows. Just yet. Ear of corn? You'll pass it along and see if anyone figures it out for you.

As for a horse getting stuffed with a horse by a raven inside a funhouse mirror room?

Mysterious, but simple. Someone's gonna stuff someone into their own body. Possibly multiple times over.

Guy sliding over the car? You think that's a reference to some old TV show, be it Earth born or Alternian.

Okay while you're sure three of these are legit visions of the future of your usual insane variety, maybe that one is Damara trolling you too. 

Hmm... 

You'll keep it in mind, though. Just in case,

* * *

 

The Alternian News Network began broadcasting its regularly scheduled news report.

 _"Greetings and Salutations, Alternia Galaxy!"_ The news caster was a Cla'dian girl named FAM FAN FAN, with golden hair, green eyes, and a wide smile. _"I'm Fam Fan Fan, and today, we bring you a special report at the top of the hour! As you know, two days ago, efforts by Alternia's Ultrazord Military division undertaken with a coordinated strike by Earth's SG-1 decapitated the Lucian Alliance's leadership- the so called wanna-be gods calling themselves the Andromeda Ascendants. The Lucian Alliance's efforts to build an army were shattered, and they were forced to scatter. Today, however, we have confirmation from Tegiri Kalbur that the mission's secondary goal has been completed. The Mofang Survivors of the Sorian Empire's disastrous colapse at Karfin Outpost, who were kidnapped and enslaved by the Andromeda Ascendants and Lucian Alliance, have all been rescued, and reunited with their loved ones and family here in Alternia Galaxy on their new homeworld, New Soria. Pilot Kalbur had this to say about-"_

Your name is Joey Claire, and you mute the TV above your table as Tegiri groans from his seat just across the table from you. 

You're all at the Ashlander's Veil, taking the night off from just about everything job and work related as you can, and here the news comes to remind you about it.

"Thank you," Tegiri says. "I really hate the sound of my own voice."

"I think you sound fine," Polypa says, nudging him in the arm with her elbow.

"Yeah, well," Tegiri scowls. "I managed to sound really pompous and self-righteous even by Anime standards. Seriously, why did I let Ashler write the speech for?"

"Because if not," you say, "you'd probably have gone on for fifteen minutes about how the battle went, blow for blow?"

Tegiri considers that, then sighs in defeat. "Yeah. Fair enough."

"Still, atleast that's That Extraneous Plot threat wrapped up," Xefros remarks before he sips at his soda. 

"So," Tegiri shakes his head. "Changing subjects. "How's everything been going here on the home front?"

"Heh," you smirk, faintly. "Mierfa's got John, Jade, and Penny back at my hive if that answers your question. Nepeta's doing the sleepover thing with Nepeta tonight, too. And Rose is over at the Brooding Caverns visiting Kanaya too. Sooo... Take a wild guess."

"Everyone Indulges in their Hobbies Night?" Tegiri asks.

"Yep," Polypa confirms.

From her cradle in the seat between you and Xefros, Toko garbles out something approximating the syllables of 'hobbies' in turn... It sounds very much like "Squeebes" right now due to her mouth not being able to make the right sounds, but you give it an A+ for effort.

"So, I gotta ask," Tegiri glances at her. "Why bring the kid along?"

"Penny's in her Grabby Phase," you answer. "Hair, mostly, but considering how Toko is ALSO in her Biting Stage... well. They love being with eachother, but it's just not a good time for either of them to be around eachother right now. Better to avoid any kind of fear and resentment."

"Fair enough," Tegiri nods, and takes a hefty drink of his own glass of root beer.

"Looks like Tegiri's done talking now," Polypa says of the news cast.

You unmute it.

 _"-GC says the Sangraal has been separated and placed into protective hiding once again,"_ Fam Fan Fan reports. _"Unless circumstances require it to be retrieved again, a probability that is placed at a very statistically low 1.666 repeating percent chance, the Sangraal will not be heard from or seen from again."_

She shuffles her papers.

_"And Now, for your local weather!"_

You mute it again.

"Okay, they didn't talk on that more than we thought they would," you say. "Sounds about right for the usual press releases from the SGC."

"Yeah, kinda shame that." Polypa winces. "Ooof, Are we really in the 90s all weekend? That's gonna suck."

"Yeesh," Tegiri winces. "I don't think my apartment has working AC right now."

"You're welcome to come stay with us," you offer.

"With all the kids around?" Tegiri muses on it. "Sure. Why not? I can do 'grubsitter' just fine."

Polypa grins. "Awesome!"

"You say that," Xefros smirks. "Then Jade goes and starts sneeze-teleporting again."

"...She does what now?" Tegiri asks, face going pale.

Hoo. This is gonna be a conversation.

...

"Hey! There's Salazl walking in now!" you change the subject, and Xefros quickly gets up to meet his matesprit.

* * *

 

Your name is Rider, once Mordred, Son of King Arthur... Artoria Pendragon.

You focus on slowing your breathing... and knock on the door infront of you for the third time in as many days.

...And once again, there is no reply.

You know she's home.

"Home."

As if this place is actually her home for as little as she seems to actually live here.

Three days in a row you've come to the place listed as Artoria's residence in Corinth City, knocked on the door, and waited. And waited. And waited and waited and waited.

And nothing.

You feel a bit... unnerved. Like you've not made any progress at all.

Did...

_...Did you do something wrong?_

You place your hand on the door- hesitating to knock again...

You see movement inside, a shadow hovering at a window above you.

You back up for a better view. It's... It's Artoria for sure. You recognize the outline of her frame.

 "Hello? Artoria?? It's me! Mo...Mordred! Can... Can we talk??"

...

...

...

A curtain is closed, blocking what little sight you could manage at all.

You...

...

_You give up._

You return to the rift. You return through the Gate to Earth.

You hide away in your on-base room, and you...

And you cry, because you have no idea what to do.

"What did I do wrong this time?" You ask over and over again, because... for the life of you... you can't figure it out.

Who knows how many minutes later, Vala finds you and decides to keep you company. It doesn't take long before she makes a few phone calls.

About five minutes after that, you find out she's roped Jonas into bringing a couple large tubs of ice cream from the SGC Cafeteria.

Another twenty-or-so minutes after that Mitchel shows up with a large box of home-made cookies that he whipped up in the SGC cafeteria the moment he got Vala's text. 

Jude and Cassie show up about half an hour later after finishing one of their therapy sessions with the on-base therapist, and bring with them a large box of store bought fried chicken.

And then for the next few hours, you're all just hanging out in your room in the SGC like a bunch of really close friends. Companions. Comrades in Arms. 

Knights of your own personal not-so-round over crowded tea table.

It's your new normal.

And that's alright.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm apologizing for another cliffhanger, sorry. 
> 
> This is going to be the last chapter for a couple weeks. I know I said the schedule would continue as planned yesterday, but the IRLs threw a curveball this morning and I've been sick with worry because of it. Given that I've got one week to go before I have to go traveling and was planning on taking a smaller break then too... I'm going to just extend it by one week more and leave the buffer I had planned on using for next week as my starting point for when I get back. 
> 
> IRL really keeps hammering me hard on this act, doesn't it? :/ A tiny bit of that frustration seems to have bled through into Rider's personal arc here. Sorry 'bout that, Rider. 
> 
> The next chapter should be that Damara chapter, but... don't expect it until August unless I get some extra buffer room and can slot in an update here or there. At most maybe two more chapters might pop up before August. IDK. I'm just so tired from all this IRL stress that it's keeping me from focusing on writing properly. 
> 
> Sorry again for the middle-of-story break like this. I really didn't mean for so many of these chapters to be long-time-span cliffhangers. Just more day-to-day or over the weekend gaps... 
> 
> If I'd gotten to the episodes I'd wanted to write then the gap would've been tided over with a satisfying battle scene... as it is I don't even have the mental energy r/n to finish the chapter *before* it even starts. I've really hit the actual homestuck dreaded PAUSES now havent i? Living the dream now. lol.
> 
> I want all this stress to stop. Can someone please pull the pressure release valve? I can't find it.


	39. ALT:10x05/INTERMISSION: Vriska to Ashes

**EARTH DATE: APRIL 24th, 2002.**  
  
 **DIASPORA DATE: 11/01/0005.**  
  
She's dead.

Once and for all, the bitch who ruined your life is DEAD.

The bitch, Elwurd, who stole your name, and made Vriska Serket radioactive. 

She's dead.

She's DEAD.

DING DONG THE WICKED WITCH IS DEAD!!!!!!!!

Your name is Ashler Dering, and you feel... to some small degree, as if you can finally put that part of yourself to rest now.

The girl who'd been framed for so many heinous acts that the only way to get Elwurd to *STOP* using your damned name against you was to fake your own death is now as dead as can be.

The real culprit, the real criminal, who did all those things, is DEAD.

The disgrace to the name Vriska Serket is DEAD and DEAD and DEAD.

She betrayed and 8CKSTA88ED so many times that the karma finally came back and bit her in the ass.

As it was meant to be.

You'd told her, the last time she said she'd stop and didn't, that if she didn't, it was going to bite her in the ass one day. You wish you'd had the insight to say something cold like "you're gonna blow yourself to pieces" or something like that, but... it doesn't matter.

She probably didn't even remember the girl whose life she'd ruined at all, even in her final moments.

Not those parting words you'd given or anything of the sort.

She'd come so close when She tried to do some shit with the Quantum Mirror and blew open a hole between dimensions. But she survived and escaped it somehow.

She ruined only the Royal Lussus knew how many lives before that point and still escaped like some kind of karmic Houdini.

She changed her names like one changed the channel on a television set, and used other people's names like one would use that earth made toilet paper for cleaning up shit in the restrooms. 

It was a miracle she and you never crossed paths within the Rebellion. You'd have made good on the violence she'd inflicted upon your name. 

But it's all over with now.

She's dead.

Elwurd is DEAD.

And the Vriska Serket who had been made in her image is dead as well.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: MAY 1ST, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 11/09/0005.**

"...So let me get this fucking straight," you massage at the bridge of your nose. "You want me to work with some other assassin to help save your family's lives from this bastard who's been hunding them down... by KILLING him?"

"That's about the short of it, yes," Rose nodded.

...Why.

Why can't you have it *easy*?

"You know, I went to a lot of trouble to make sure  the shit that comes with the name "Vriska Serket" died when I faked my own death and abandoned that identity," you tell the cat eared girl and her companion. 

"We know that," they say. "But we don't think there's any other choice. Also. We have this to say. We believe he is the reason the IOA didn't prioritize the capture of Elwurd and her crew."

...

...

...

Fucking hell.

"I'm not sure whether I should thank the bastard then, with the shit she caused me," you say. "But you know, there was a part of me that was itching to see her pay for her crimes. And I'm honestly not sure which would've been sweeter. Her dying to her own karma finishing her off, or rotting away in a jail cell for the rest of her life."

Fuck it.

One last job for Vriska Serket, then.

"Okay," you say, standing. "You've got yourselves an assassin."

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: MAY 19TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 11/27/0005.**

The light to the O'neill cabin clicks on, and you freeze upon seeing Tegiri sitting there, staring, judging, piercing gaze directly at you.

"So," he summarizes, "you and Polypa both go missing for almost a month, and not hours after some asshole in the IOA gets himself killed trying to assassinate three women, two unknowns, and one Victoria Bradley, you finally show back at the cabin you were supposed to be in days ago."

...Crap.

"...How long were you waiting there?" You ask, asking mainly about the chair he's sitting in rather than the cabin. Tegiri's the kind of guy who'd sit dramatically in a chair waiting for days at a time just to make a statement.

"I got off training early two days ago, couldn't find you or Polypa anywhere..."  He looks you in the eyes. You don't flinch. "Now I hear about all this and you're back? Do I even want to know about what happened?"

You refuse to flinch.

Years of instinct keeps you from flinching under his gaze. 

He's staring, gazing, evaluating. Wanting to see you flinch. They always do. 

They always want to see you flinch.

"You-" really "-probably don't," you answer, slinging off your luggage bag for the floor. "But I can tell you if you want to know."

Tegiri considers your response. What breaks here? Who snaps under the pressure? Will your Moirailgence survive the next few seconds? Maybe he breaks it off with Polypa instead? Both? Did you ruin two relationships with one stroke here?

Fucking hell, why didn't you turn Rose down?

Tegiri sighs. "Just... tell me. You two didn't do anything that could get you in trouble, did you?" 

Did you?

Did you really?

Why didn't you turn Rose down?

...You know why.

You wanted to wrap up every last bit of bad karma floating around from this whole Elwurd situation. She died because of that man's greed, and he died because of his insane desire to cap off a cycle of karma started from well over sixty years ago when some girl got kicked out of her village for a murder she didn't commit. 

You had over a month to brood over the facts. To do your own research. You found some old article online from a theater rag regarding that Cordelia woman. Found an article about a fire at a bridge to a small kingdom on a hill involving a maid who'd admitted to framing Cordelia Gallo for murder, and then fell into a ravine and died. 

It spoke to you on some level, and you're honestly not sure if it was a real article or not. Maybe you were just having a particularly vivid dream about events nobody should have any real reason to know about anymore? Who knows, who cares. 

Still. You know what you read, dream or not. It was enough of a sympathetic motive to help cap this whole thing off. 

You look at Tegiri, as you say with full confidence- "Nah. I think it was all pretty cut and dry self defense."

If not that, then atleast the end to a karmic cycle of death and revenge that needed to be broken.

And it was, by all accounts.

Tegiri sighs. "Well. I guess that's all I can ask for."

You can't help it.

"Gee, thanks."

You laugh.

And wouldn't you know it, after a few moments, he starts to laugh too.

Your name is Ashler Dering, and you'll take that as a fucking win.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: JULY 8TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 01/16/0006.**

"Do I HAVE to say this?" Tegiri asks, glaring at the script you've just spent the last three hours helping him write.

Well, truthfully, you've been doing all the writing. And trimming out of irrelevant details like how fluidly your Ultrazord kicked some Lucian Alliance Ha'tak into the Black Hole or how many sparks the thing gave off as it collided with another Ha'tak as they tumbled into oblivion.

"Yes, you do," you say, glancing at your watch. "Fucks sake, Tegiri, you gotta go on stage in less than an hour. Stop complaining and start rehearsing!"

"But it's so... so...!" Tegiri grasps at the air as he grasps for words.

"In character?" You ask.

"It's Too Much for even some of MY favorite Anime Characters, Ashler!" He complains. "Do I really need to say how I 'single handedly lead us to victory'?? It sounds like I'm over inflating my skills over the rest of the crew!"

"Tegiri, my Moirail, my bestest, most awesomest dude," you place a hand on his shoulder and look him in the eyes. "You fucking tied us together and SNAPPED US OUT OF SHOCK when they pulled out a SECOND completed Clarent Victory mech out of FUCKING NOWHERE! It took EXCALIBER to enhance the Astro-Delta enough to even have a chance of defeating the last one! And they still got their kicks in! If you hadn't come up with that idea to use the Naquadria Blaster on that fucking minigun rifle of theirs when you did in THAT exact way-"

You stop. You'd have been toast is what you'd have been. They'd have shot up the Naquadria core and the explosion would have--

...It's moments like those that make you realize how lucky you are to have Tegiri as a Moirail. Anybody else would have either indulged you too much and gave way too much lenience to your shittier habits, or gone far, far too strict in how they managed you. Anybody else would have floundered in a battle like that. 

Anybody else wouldn't have thought to fucking eject the Naquadria core straight into the enemy mecha's firing mechanism using an Asgard beaming array instead of the usual ejection methods. 

"I know, I know," Tegiri grimaces. "Fucking hell. Just... Do you have to make it sound so pompous? So self-righteous??"

"It's what the people want," you tell him. "A Hero who knows they did good. Fuck, we rescued an entire settlement of MOFANG VILLAGERS! They're going HOME because of your quick thinking!"

"Okay, fine," Tegiri sighs. "I'll say it then."

"Good, because we don't have TIME for any more revisions!" you say, moving to stand. "We've got to get to the stage, and you've got to rehearse this damned thing NOW!"

Good grief! If only you hadn't resigned yourself to not taking the spotlight anymore. You'd go up there and sing his praises for doing things right the way he did!

"Fine, fine," Tegiri grumbles. And so does his stomach. It grumbles so loudly as he gets up from his chair.

"Tell you what," you say. "You do a damn good job on stage today, and I'll buy lunch today."

"Seriously?" he asks. "But you bought it last week. It's my turn."

"Yeah, well. I'm covering you this week," you answer. "If you memorize this speech!!"

"Right, right, fair's fair," he nods.

...But it's give and take.

Sometimes, in moments like THESE? Tegiri gets far too self-conscious for his own good. Anything that has to do with public speaking. That's where you come up behind and boost him up where he needs.

It's a pain, yeah, but you gotta balance out your relationship SOMEHOW. 

You wouldn't have it any other way.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some comment conversation inspired the motivation to write this chapter. Thanks to Caris for that. 
> 
> The promised Damara chapter will go up later this week. I managed to fill up the rest of the buffer for a full week of chapters once I get back from the trip.


	40. INTERVIEW: May I ask You a Question?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A letter delivered to the RPM Ranger Garage Base in Corinth City one month after the activation of the Sangraal.

**_6/03/02_**  
  
**_1/11/06_**  
  
There comes a question in every hero and villains life that is worth asking.

_**Was It Worth It?** _

Was what you as a hero, or a villain, did worth it in the end?

And what of those of us who walk that fine line between both? Who acts villainous to accomplish heroic deeds? Or acts heroic to accomplish villainous deeds?

Say what you will about the lines themselves, let alone the act of walking them, but here, I ask...

Was It Worth It?

Were the deeds you acted upon in service of this goal of yours worth it in the end? Did you accomplish everything? Did you free yourself from the ties than bind? Did you fail miserably just inches from the finish line?

Well, Reese? What about you, Repli-Carter? Fifth? The so called 'Danicator'? Were your dreams of revenge worth it in the end? Was it worth the damage you caused the galaxy? Was it WORTH the humiliation of being so outrageously insane that one of your own SIBLINGS decided you were worth stopping?

I'd imagine Polendina would say it was worth it, given her now mortal and organic reincarnation with parents who love her- even if they are busy constantly saving the galaxy and the universe.

Jude, Cassandra, is it worth it? Has the strain and trauma been worth it?  

Was it worth it, General Jack O'neill, after it's all been said and done? Has it been worth it, Samantha Carter and Jolinar of Malkshur?

Jonas Quinn. Was it worth it, to lose your home planet to the Goa'uld and your own race's stupidity with regards to all. That. Naquadria?

Has it been worth it, Vala Mal Doran? To give up being a thief?

What about you, Cameron Mitchel? Has it been worth it to be a part of SG-1 far before you would have broken your legs in other timelines and earned that spot early in this other world line? Has it been worth it to have your life brought through on smooth sailing and to not have to waste a SOLID YEAR on that pain of recovery?

Was it worth it, Teal'c, to earn your people's freedom after all this time?

Has it been worth it, Doctor Daniel Jackson? To lose a wife, several years of your life, as well as any real semblance of a proper family relationship with either version of your daughter?

_**WAS IT WORTH IT, SKAARA, TO ABANDON YOUR NIECE TO THE WHIMS OF FATE LIKE THAT?** _

What about you, Jade? Has it been worth it? To be with John and Argo? Is it worth all the pain you've felt? I can assure you, it's NOTHING compared to what you've been through in other worlds. Do you feel it's worth it?

...Or how about you, hm, Little Andromeda Ascendants? Did you accomplish your goals in two separate universe before being erased from the narrative? Was it WORTH it?

If you'd asked me, I'd say No. I'd say it wasn't worth it. Nor was it worth the effort, Velika, to throw your lot in with your niece when she came crawling back after the way you treated eachother. Your panic was not worth it. Your demise was pitiful and instant. You barely had time to recognize what was happening when it happened.

You should have stayed in Pegasus.

Was it worth it, Commander Ass-kingforit Kolya? Was your insanity worth killing Doctor Weir over in this world? How about in another one where you killed Mckay instead? Was your greed really worth it?

Aiden Ford... Do you truely think the ends justify the means? Has everything you've done since gaining enlightenment similar to my own been worth it? Is your end goal really that important and WORTH the blood sweat and tears?

What about you, Elwurd and company? Did you even have a plan or were you winging it from the start? What were you even HOPING to accomplish with that Quantum Mirror? Was it worth it, Elwurd, to twist Lynera so tightly around your finger? Was it worth it to have her mind break, and to have you leave her in the dust behind when you and your crew went galavanting around in Pegasus, hidden from sight doing all sorts of... non important things.

It wasn't worth it, was it? What did you even hope to accomplish with that Wraith Cruiser once you had it? Were you so foolhardy as to think you could try the Mirror stunt AGAIN?

Now. What of your goals, Anubis? Was Galactic domination worth it? Was it worth selling your soul in a partnership with a time traveling demon? Was the constant string of humiliations worth it?

Was it worth the metal body that needed the constant repairs? Was it worth betraying the word you had given and having your own masterpiece of a weapon destroyed by the laser you essentially fired at yourself? Was it worth becoming a ghost bound to constantly dying bodies? Was it worth being lured into a Supergate's vortex and being ferried dramatically into a Black Hole?

And was it worth it, Caliborn, My former master? Were your childish days spent languishing away in another galaxy while your slave forced me to work? Was it worth ruling over all those kingdoms while you left me to deal with the aftermath of Alternia?

Was IT WORTH IT to make me your personal HANDMAID? To force me to have that obsession with RETRIEVING THAT DAMNED BRACELET so I could use it to restore myself and summon you back to... to... to even do what?

I tried twice to retrieve that bracelet for you, and it damn near killed me both times at the same damn time.

If I ever got my hands on it now, what would I do with it, I wonder? It is shattered, twice over, and scattered to pieces. There is no reuniting its parts. There is no more consolidating its fragments to a whole...

Was it worth it, Khepri? Was it worth it to break it so? To scatter it? To leave the pieces where some girl could pick them up and then use them against you? And later... make the decision to destroy it lest it fall into my hands?

Was it worth it, to have your desires banished into the far distant past, and to have your dreams of returning to the throne with a second empire added to your belt dashed by the son you yourself raised?

Was it worth it, Trizza? To have immortality given to you? Is it worth having your ambitions granted in every way you never actually wanted?

Was it worth it, Oberonn? Was it worth dealing with multiple devils? Was it worth the RUTHLESS bloodshed that cost you both of your daughters?

 _ **WAS IT WORTH IT, RA?** _Was it worth assaulting Atlantis and devastating that planet, knowing that it was defended?

Was it worth it, Ba'al? To fill your life with clones of yourself so that you could hide away from the disturbing truth that is your own future demise already set into stone?

And so finally, I ask to anyone who might be reading my question here, scrawled out onto paper as haphazardly as it is...

Was it worth finding this letter? Was it worth reading it? Was everything that lead you to this point worth it?

...And then I ask that of myself.

Well, Damara Megido, was it worth it?

Has everything been worth what you've done to get to this point in time???

...To that, I answer...

_**Ask me again in six weeks.** _

-Damara Megido

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damara sure knows how to hit those hard hitting questions, eh?
> 
> And now we're officially on break. See you again in August with chapter "SG1:10X13: The Road Less Often Taken."


	41. SG1:10X13: The Road Less Often Taken

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AKA: I need to focus on the SAO side of things a bit more often than I have.  
> ALSO AKA: WE'RE BACK!

**EARTH DATE: JULY 16TH, 2002.**  
  
 **DIASPORA DATE: 01/24/0006.**  
  
Your name is Trizza Tethis, and you have a lot of time to think these days.

Who knew actually ruling an entire country would be so.,.. TEDIOUS? So Time wasting?

So... So...

So MONOTONOUS. 

Hell, if a CONTINENT is boring you this badly, imagine ruling an Empire!! You're GLAD you got the boot, basically, when you had your hand chopped off to have that bracelet stolen from you.

You flex your regrown hand.

...Immortality is a sucky thing too.

You get a conditionally-immortal King and a Queen to rule over an entire kingdom of Faeries, and then what do you get? 

A bastard who over the course of his reign, curses his entire country with magic, loses his youngest daughter who he was going to sacrifice in a ritual to do who knows what to another dimension by the acts of his oldest daughter, who then later pulls a magic sword, kills some bigshot demon, and then dies to the King's own HANDS. 

Then he runs like a coward, locks his WIFE AWAY in a bird cage, and then SHE escapes to who knows where after tricking a servant into freeing her, and cursing that servant into looking like her, and taking her place. Then you show up, kill the king, find out that the queen isn't actually the queen, and then get STUCK WITH THE JOB until she's found!

**_AND IT IS SO MOTHERGRUB DAMNED BOOOOOOOOOOORRRRRRRRRRIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING._ **

And it's not like you have anything better to do at this point. 

Alternia Galaxy back home? SAFE AND SOUND AND SO GLUBBINGLY BORINGLY PEACEFUL IT MAKES YOU SICK. The most news worthy thing in the last MONTH was some Mofang being rescued and brought back home safe and sound.

What a load of CARP.

Milky Way? _They **BLEW UP SOME ASCENDED DOUCHEBAGS FROM TWO UNIVERSES!**_

**_AT!_ **

**_ONCE!!!_ **

They don't need your help at all at this point, and even if they did, one of their OTHER recurring enemies is the FUCKING HANDMAID TO LORD FUCKIN' ENGLISH who, WHOOPDEEDOOO! Got shoved into a black hole and DIED without anybody even telling you until after the fact.

What. Fucking. Fun.

You've got it all. Immortality! The Royal Life! RESPECT! THE MONEY!!!!

And what does it get you?

BOREDOM.

So.

Much.

BOREDOM.

You wish that someone would find the damned Queen already so you can get on with doing something more fun.

There are RUINS TO EXPLORE! You'd like to explore some good old fashioned ruins! A scrum here or there! Just a nice battle with some dungeon dwelling monsters!

That's ALL!

You sure hope that whatever Queen Titania is doing, it's more fun than this, otherwise she's really wasting her 'vacation' away from her dead hubby.

Faeries.

Seriously.

Who the hell thought making them super long lived edging on immortal was a good idea?

...For that matter, who the hell thought making YOU actually Immortal was a good idea?

"Maaaan. This sucks." You huff. Life sure took a weird-ass turn that exact minute Joey Claire cut off your fucking hand.

You're not really sure surviving that fucking super nova was even worth it.

...

...

When your usual very large lunch arrives you forget all thoughts about that deathly nature, because if there's one thing these Fae managed to do good and keep doing good, it was make some fucking fantastic food.

Who cares how you managed to survive any of the shit you've been through when you've got AWESOME FOOD??

You idly wonder if Queen Titania is living it up and having awesome meals every day like this still? Hrm, maybe she's taking cooking classes? You could buy that. The idea that learning to cook such godly food could take-

Nope. Not going to think about however fucking long it could take to learn how to cook like that.

Not one bit.

* * *

 

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw)

* * *

 

A blue haired Undine Faerie by the name of Asuna sneezed as she closed the door to her humble little apartment in Arrun City.

  
Her blue hair and blue eyes gleamed with the light of water magic as she cast a brief spell on herself to ensure that she wasn't catching a cold, and then she went into the kitchen to start cooking herself a meal.

She'd barely hit the switch for the ceiling light to enchant itself into illuminated mode when she finally sensed the presence of an intruder within her home.

A rapier style sword materialized within her hand with a flash, and she whirled around to face the intruder who had dared to-

"Hey, Asuna!" A cheeky Spriggain who was far older than he let on to most people cracked a grin. "I thought you wouldn't be back until later." 

The Spriggain known to a select few people as Kirito placed a large box of something onto a coffee table- the box rattled with the sound of glass on glass.

"Kirito..." Asuna sighed in relief, dispersing her sword to where-ever it had come from to begin with. "You should have said something when I came in."

"To be honest, I'm surprised it took you this long to notice I was here," he answered, taking the lid off of the box and retrieving something from the surface layer.

"Here." He offered a potion bottle. "More of that S-ranked ingredient you need."

"Thank you, Kirito," The Undine smiled, and took it. She knew the contents of the vial by heart. 

Polywhirl Root. A special plant root sourced from the same underground gardens as the Energy Crystals. When used in conjunction with Yggdrasil Sap and Raw, Non-Elementally-Aligned Morph Slime, among other ingreedients, it served as the base root (heh) of a polymorph potion, similar in nature to the FACTION DISGUISE spell, except nowhere near as versatile in how it changed your looks, only that it wasn't a spell based transformation at all.

The simple, easily deductable truth of the matter that only Asuna and Kirito were aware of was that Asuna was not infact an Undine named Asuna.

She was infact the Faerie Queen Titania, who had given up any designs on holding the position of the throne.

And by the most bizzare twist of fate ever, Kirito had been assigned as one of the top hunters to find the missing queen, with the quest giver, Interim Queen Trizza Tethis, being completely unaware that he already knew the Queen's real location.

He was, after all, the one who had helped orchestrate her escape and disguise in the first place.

"How's Yui-chan?" Asuna asked, moving to sit down on her sofa. 

Kirito, seeing an offered opening well rehearsed between the two of them, sat down with her. He placed hs hand on her hands, resting on her thighs, and smiled."She's doing fine. I have her attending classes in Aincrad now. She's finally able to hone in those smarts of hers in ways she'd never be able to here."

"A benefit of our two worlds interacting," Asuna smiled, sadly. "Astore... she did such a fine job bringing them together. It's a disgrace that her father decided she not be allowed to see it through." A small ember of hate sparked within her eyes, briefly coloring them orange instead of blue, but it faded as quickly as it ever did anymore. "But Hakase... Atleast she has had the chance to live a normal life. I wonder if her and Yui-chan will get along well?"

"They're in different grades, unfortunately," Kirito shook his head. "But Yui's aware of her. Everyone in her class is. Hakase is... well. She's joined some sort of inventors club."

"She has?" Asuna asked. "And she's... creating things?"

"Insane, nonsensical things that shouldn't work, but do," Kirito smiled. "You should feel proud."

"I do," Asuna nods. "I just wish... I could reinsert myself into her life without causing her no end of trouble."

Kirito had no words to counter that. He had long ago expunged them all after Oberon's death by the hands of Trizza Tethis. 

Asuna had rejected every single one.

The charade had to continue, Asuna insisted. It was the only way to break the curse.

The curse Oberon had brought upon the kingdom of Alfheim. The curse that made wings fail to work after ten minutes of consecutive flight. The curse that made Alfheim's birth rate plummet to a scant few children a decade. The curse that said that as long as the King Oberon and Queen Titania or any of their family sat upon the royal throne, the whole race would be punished.

Of everything Oberon had done, it all started with that damned curse.

All attempts at breaking it had just... made. Things. Worse.

It was better this way.

And so they sat in silence, no words being said, hands just being held.

* * *

 

Contrasting that scene, very much not just sitting in silence was the current 'council' of assembled Aincrad and Alfheim heroes, who were standing over a table of large blueprints of various floors arguing over what was to be done about the ongoing problems with sabbotage that the Goa'uld were somehow managing to commit across the various Castle ships.  
  
You are Keiko Ayano, and you sigh as you massage the bridge of your nose, listening to the arguments.

"Fun, eh?" Silica asks, sitting next to you, and looking for all the world your cat-traited twin as always, save for her hairstyle, which she's kept in twintails while you've kept yours in a single tail. 

"I'm missing my lab in Atlantis already," you mutter in response.

"Look!" The leader of Aincrad's security team, a woman named CAPTAIN ASUNA YUKI who was rapidly promoted after her boss's boss's boss were all revealed to have just been the same damned Goa'uld causing trouble, and jumping hosts down the line whenever he got caught.

Captain Asuna had caught on before she had become the next target, and stopped the snake dead with an ellegantly declared point. Literally, as she used her sword's sharpened point to stab the snake down the throat, killing it.

Your sister, SHIORI, and her husband, KAZUTO, were up there discussing things as well, representing your respective families inherited job expertises up there, waving the flag as it were.

Kazuto and Asuna were currently arguing about whether the next target for sabbotage would be here on Aincrad or in another Castle Ship. Asuna was assuming it would be hitting close to home after the recent string of power conduit shakeups, Kazuto assumed it was going to be another Castle Ship.

Shiori looked so tired of her hubby and her best friend arguing though, but that's something you've struggled to comprehend. When did your sister become friends with Captain Asuna Yuki?? The last you'd been aware, they'd hated eachother with a fierce vengeance.

You glance at Silica to ask her, but find her attention drawn across the room back to the table as well.

Minori had interjected into the argument, and was laying out the confirmed facts for both theories, and now proposing that the Goa'uld would be striking out at both at the same time. 

Beside her, that Alfheim Wizard SHIROE agreed with Minori's assessment, and suggested that the best course of action would be to use the presence of the Atlantis Expedition to muddle the waters, and bring in the Military teams from the Expedition to serve as extra hands to help create a trap to stop the Goa'uld.

This triggers a fresh round of arguments from everyone.

You sigh. 

_Lovely._

_**Just Lovely.** _

How did things get so muddled in the short period of time since you left for Atlantis?

You really should have paid more attention to this side of things, now it's being all shoved in your face about how stupid everything's gotten.

Idiot.

You're such an idiot.

"Hey," And then Yuuki has somehow moved across the room during your musings, and is leaning over both you and Silica to ask: "Sis thinks they're going to be a few hours more at this rate with nothing getting done, so her, me, and Touya we're gonna bail out for a bit. Either of you want to go get some lunch while they argue?"

"Shadow clones?" Silica asks.

"Yep," Yuuki nods.

"I think I'll stay and keep Minori company," Silica answers.

"Fair enough," Yuuki nods.

"I'll join," you say, and follow Yuuki out of the cramped argument hall. You do a double take when you spot Yuuki's sister in two places at once. Inside the hall next to Shiroe's side, and out here, flipping a small coin up and down as she leaned against the wall.

"Akatsuki," you smile and nod to her. "It's been a while."

"Same here," The Ninja Imp nods in turn, catching and pocketing the coin. "Atlantis been treating you well?"

"Very," you answer as you wait for Touya to join up. "Just wish I could go back at this point. Too much arguing here."

"Don't we all," Yuuki huffed. "I'm Honestly thinking about putting in for a transfer if you guys are ever allowed to go back."

"I too am considering a transfer," Akatsuki says.

"Really? Aren't you needed here?" You ask.

"Master Shiroe is less in need of an assassin or a ninja these days..." Akatsuki trails off as a loud burst of shouting can be heard from inside the conference room as Touya slips outside.

"Geeeze," He laments, "who knew the idea of asking for help could be so controversial?"

* * *

 

Some quaint little coffee shop called DAIKU COFFEE became your venue, but your topics of discussion were anything but coffee talk.

"You'd think we'd have rooted out all the snakes by now," Yuuki laments.

"Given all the Ba'al clones back in Alternia timeline, I'm not so sure we'll ever root all of them out," You remark.

"Is that what we're calling it these days?" Akatsuki asks.

"Makes sense," Touya says. "Alternia is the major thing going on in that timeline, compared to Aincrad here, or Alfheim there, or Corinth City..."

"Do we have to define our timelines by major places where lots of long drawn out battles happened?" Yuuki asks.

"Is there even any other continents back home we could use instead?" Touya asks. "Or have I just completely forgotten any local geography beyond the main continent?"

"I think you've just forgotten," Yuuki says. "Either that Or I've forgotten how things are. We're both gonna have to look at some history and geography books when we go back to my place in Alfheim... Or maybe we could just skip the books entirely and go straight to the sheets. Work sheets. I mean." Touya coughed and sputtered, suddenly going red in the face. Akatsuki seems unphased by this occurrence, Yuuki just grins. 

It's nice, catching up with your old friends like this. It vaguely feels like you never left. Except... you totally did. And somewhere inbetween all the chaos and uncertainty you missed Yuuki blatantly starting to be flirty with Touya.

Sure, they'd always been sort of close to eachother, given that Yuuki was involved in turning Touya into a Werewolf Fae in the first place, but when did THAT happen??

"So!!" Touya changes subjects once he regained control over his emotions. "Did anyone hear about the Sangreal?"

"It's SanGRAAL, not sanGREAL. GRAAL," Akatsuki corrects. "Two A's, not E and A. But yes. I've heard."

"Heard what?" You ask. "I feel left out of the news cycle somehow."

Akatsuki then fills you in on the goings on back in Milky Way and then that some of the researchers native to Aincrad were petitioning to have it brought here to be researched and duplicated. Why? They didn't like the idea of ghostly spirits hanging around watching everything and NOT doing anything to help, especially if some of those ghostly spirits had the same inclinations as the Andromeda Ascendants in other realities.

Also likely was that there was likely a version of Lord English somewhere in your reality as well that needed dealing with, whether or not he was present in your galaxy or not, that the Sangraal could be effective against eventually.

The bastard just wouldn't all die at once when you shoved him into a black hole, would he?

Something Yuuki quotes from a mission report- and hell, how did you miss a mission report?- about something Damara said during the quest for the Sangraal strikes at your mind though.

...There are fragments of Lord English that need to be 'put back in the box' before it gets shoved into the universe trashbin that is English's blackhole grave. Does...

Does Damara want to ensure that every copy of Lord English across the Multiverse meets that same grisly end- to be Eaten and Consumed by a black hole??

...Honestly, if that's the case, why the hell doesn't she just come right out and say that and get some HELP on that. You're pretty sure if she weren't acting antagonistic to everyone she'd probably be much easier to classify as someone on the hero side of things rather than the villain.

...Unless she has something else in mind besides that?

But, for the life of you, you can't figure out what.

"By the way," Yuuki changes subject. "I haven't seen Rose or Kanaya around. Did they not come through to Aincrad?"

"They're taking a month off to 'relax' before they dive into things," you answer. "Apparently Rose figured out some 'interesting' ways for them to play around with the Shaper Crystal. And I didn't plan on asking for further details after the eyebrow wriggle she gave me."

"Ah," Yuuki nods. "That... makes sense."

Akatsuki nods in firm agreement.

Then, your food and drinks arrive at the table, and conversation stalls out as you eat lunch.

* * *

 

"So..." You are now Jimmyy O'neill, and you stare up up up up at the massive crystalline tree growing tiny little crystals that are familiar to you and Lantash both. "You figure out a way to mass produce Tok'ra tunneling crystals?"

"Yep," Rose Lalonde nods.

"It was surprisingly easy to figure out once we realized there was an organic superstructure within the crystals themselves," Kanaya Maryam confirms.  
Lantash is silent within your mind, staring in awe.

"Whats more," Rose pries a crystal off of the tree. "It's not just tunnels we can make now."

"It's what?" You ask, watching as Rose heads down along the shoreline of the lake you fish on, and then finds a nice open spot, and plants the crystal into the dirt.

She backs away.

Then, instead of the crystal's flash of light tunneling downward... it extends UPWARDS, and OUTWARDS and when it finishes... It's a large, square structure made up of the same textured hexagonal patterns as the Tok'ra tunnels.

"Now we have Prefabricated Housing structures in addition to prefabricated tunnels," Rose smiles.

"We believe these are going to be of a great use to a vast number of people," Kanaya says. "Across multiple worlds."

Lantash finally requests to speak. **"How... where did you get the Mass for it?"**

"Oh, it's quite simple. Across god knows how many parallel dimensions, Tok'ra are using their crystals to create tunnels underground, and I'm only aware of another crystal *filling in* those spaces with the same crystaline substrata instead of the dirt and earth that was originally there.... So I asked, Where does all that mass go, and more importantly, can that same mass be retrieved if it's used in a place where a tunnel did not used to exist before?" Rose cracks a very... demented cat like grin. "Well, It's certainly not destroyed, to say the least. I suspect it's a rudimentary, shared-dimensional sort of pocket storage similar to Captchaloging. So much mass in countless dimensions being ferried into a pocket dimension... only occasionally being retrieved to fill a space back in? Well... There may be a limit as to what can be retrieved, but as long as the tunneling crystals themselves are used in conjunction to throw new mass into that dimension... I doubt it will ever be reached."

Honestly, you're not sure what to make of this, but...

"Have I ever mentioned how Over Powered those Bracelet Crystals have been?" You ask.

You get laughs in response.

Lantash just mumbles in your head, _[I have so many questions now about where those crystals came from in the first place and who designed them.]_

 _'You mean you don't know?'_ you ask.

 _[I just know certain crystal shapes do certain tunnel shapes and thats that. I never questioned it!]_ Lantash laments, _[I... am really just so confounded as to how this is even possible.]_

Needless to say, regardless of how the original crystals work, you suspect Rose and Kanaya have probably done something rather unique just now making crystals that grow *houses* instead of tunnels.   
  
Then again, wasn't Roxy just making pyramids by summoning giant green cubes out of thin air and fusing the things together impossibly?

...Maybe this is related to similar?

You bring the question up and that starts a whole different conversation path that Lantash is suddenly very interested in... But you...

Well. You pretend to zone out but it actually is a pretty interesting conversation all things considered.

* * *

 

"Excuse me, are you Mikari Aiikho?"

You are now Mikari Aiikho, and you glance up from your temporary work desk in Aincrad to see some golden haired green eyed fae girl from Alfheim standing infront of you, dressed in a courier uniform.

She seems familiar somehow. Something in the face. You're pretty sure the exotic hair that is exactly as glimmery and shiny as polished gold and eyes that gleam as sharply as any jewel are due to the magic native to that dimension and world line rather than yours or this one. 

"Yes, that's me," you say. "What is it?"

"Delivery for you from the Tablet Terminal Store," courier girl hands you a clipboard with a receipt. "Please sign here."

You glance at the receipt and see that it's the WRITING TERMINAL you decided to buy on a whim a few days ago. They're basically laptop versions of some of the larger desk sized terminals back on Atlantis with none of the loss of memory or storage space or processing power.

The differences ten thousand years make, hm? 

You could have gotten it sooner but you opted in for the CUSTOM ENGRAVING on the backside plating for it. You put your sign and the Atlantis Expedition Logo on it.

And thus, you waited a bit.

You sign immediately, pausing to note that the receipt lists the delivery girl as someone named "FAYE" - A Faerie named Faye? How amusing. 

"Ah, saw my name on it, huh?" The girl giggles as she takes the clipboard back and retrieves the box containing your new computer from her bag. "Yeah, my parents thought it was funny. Atleast they didn't go with the stereotypical metallurgy humor that runs in the family and named me after my hair or eye colors like my mom and aunts wound up with."

"Really? How's that?" You ask, taking the box and smiling gratefully. "Thank you, by the way."

"Emerald, Ruby, Sapphire," 'Faye' rolls her eyes of the emerald color. "Anyways. No need to thank me. I should be the one Thanking you for the business! And the exercise. I get more of a work out flying ten ways across Aincrad than I ever have back home, just from the fact my wings work longer than ten minutes alone!"

"You're most welcome then," you say, waving the girl off as she exits the room. About thirty seconds later you catch sight of her through your office window, spreading grey hued, magic wings shaped like wrenches and soaring away out into the distance.

As she goes, you're suddenly able to place it. The newscaster Cla'dian girl, Fam Fan Fan, who used to work with then-Princess Millia back when the rebellion was first getting started. Said Millia is now a Queen, now that you think about it. You wonder why her friend went from Royal attendant to Intergalactic newscaster? Hrm, probably related to whatever reason her counterpart in this dimension became a delivery girl for Aincrad rather than staying home in Alfheim.

It's probably not your place to ask, though.

You unbox your new writing computer and boot it up...

Much to your surprise, it boots up with the standard Alternian OS for Grubtops- they really went the extra mile with customization on this one. They must have recognized your name, or something. Still, saves you the hassle of doing a reinstall of the OS. You set up the name, account, and log in...

And then you open up a new text document, and you pause to consider the name you'll start with.

But you suppose that also depends what you're really going to do with this tablet.

You got it on a whim. What do you even need this thing for?

...Truth is you don't, and yet... 

On a whim it is. 

You enter the filename, and hit save.

**_[ACT0-InciteIncidents.RTF]_ **

You start at the beginning, because where else do you begin with a novelization of events as they've happened?

_"Your name is JAKE HARLEY, formerly JAKE CROCKER. The Year is 1928, the place, GIZA, EGYPT."_

You stare at the line before you smile, and you nod.

Yes, your sign is CANNIUS, the SIGN OF THE THEATRICAL, and what better way to spend your free time during your time away from the job you want to be doing than writing down a decent novelization of what happened up to this point?

...You get the feeling it's going to be a long, long, LONG time before you're ever close to being finished with this project. 

Despite whatever reservations that feeling brings to mind... You continue your writing.

* * *

 

You are John Sheppard, and you stare out over New Athos' fields from the edge of the forest. There is a small group of Genii leaving the Gate heading towards the village. 

Sora is leading them, and Teyla and Ronon are going to to greet them along with a few other Athosian hunters, and one of the other leaders of the settlement.

You? You're stuck in the forest keeping an eye on things incase things go wrong.

Teyla's running the show for now, and you'll follow her lead because, well, she's Athos' head leader even despite her long standing position on your team. You're fine with that. What you're not so fine with is Michael hovering over your shoulder, staring out at the Genii like a hunter stalks prey.

"Who's the new guy?" Michael asks.

"Which one?" you ask.

"The man with the short haircut," Michael clarifies.

You spot check the Genii... wait, none of them have a short haircut, but who does is the other Athosian leader. Ca... Cana... Kanaan? Yes, KANAAN. "Who, Kanaan? On the left?"

"Yes, him," Michael says. "He seems familiar to me somehow."

"You've probably seen him around the village before," you say. "He's one of the leaders of the whole place, after all."

"It's... more than that," MIchael says. "...I think another me in another world did something to him. I feel... regret. Jeallousy. It's... Hard to tell."

And there it goes, the main reason you're all creeped out by Michael hanging around. Whatever Ford did to him left him aware of other rimwlinwa. Most of the time he keeps it to himself, but around the Athosians he's gotten more flashes of insight here and there, and it's stressing you both out.

You know there's little chance of Michael fully reverting into a Wraith at this point, and Ellia's integrated with the village well enough at this point that nobody really cares beyond the fact she's got a still functioning wraith detection system like a couple of other folks in the settlement already have- Teyla and... Huh, Kanaan too, you think? 

You wish Ronon would've taken the rear guard duty this time, but Teyla doesn't want the Genii to know that some of Atlantis's people have remained behind just yet. 

There's been rumor that Kolya escaped his little prison world thanks to a surprise Wraith Culling, and that's been what Sora keeps coming to talk to Teyla about, keeping her appraised. 

There's a very significant chance the bastard managed to pull a Ford and get one over on the Wraith- especially if he suddenly got control over Rift Powers. 

Your hands flex in annoyance, and you're not sure who its really directed at.

The Ancients, mostly, you guess. They did sort of kick you all out unreasonably. And you're not just referring to the whole expedition. The way they were being so wary around the Alternians just made you feel sick to your stomach.

It's been two weeks already, and you haven't felt any better about anything going on regarding Atlantis.

Maybe it's the fact that you've got no way of contacting Earth or Alternia to find out what the rest of the Expedition is up to. You could link out with the Books you have, but that'd be a one way trip until you get a book written for New Athos. But it was either be out of the Pegasus Loop or be out of the MilkyWay/Alternia Loop, and honestly, you know which one would hurt you more, long run.

Pegasus is your home now, through and through. Being out of the loop on it wouldn't feel right.

Everywhere else has their defenders and guardians... If you left... where would that leave your home now?

"Sheppard?"

"Sorry," you shake your head. "Zoned out for a minute. Any change?"

"No," Michael frowns. "...Do you think I should apologize to Kanaan?'

"For what? Something your other selves did in another world?" You frown. "I'm... Not the right person to ask about that, Mike."

"Then who is?" Michael asks.

You have no freaking clue.

* * *

 

"I heavily object to this, Sir," your name is Cassandra Fraiser, and you're trailing after General O'neill in the SGC. "if Damara gets her hands on the Sangraal, it will be because we've taken it out of my sylladex and placed it in Aincrad. Which, given all of the Goa'uld sabbotage-"

"Which is exactly why it will be under guard from screened, and trained Strapping SGC Marines," O'neill answers you. "Look, we can't stop them from asking for the thing, and we can't stop them from requesting aid in securing the place given all the sabbotage going on. It's a recurring problem they have, yes, but as long as the Sangraal stays where we put it and nobody requests to take it outside of the lab, it'll be Fine." 

"But-!"

And then he stops, turns around and puts a hand on your shoulder. "Cassie. I know you mean well, and you're used to advising. But Damara's got you spooked with your vibes out of whack. We're going to have twelve guards stationed at the Sangraal the entire time. Twenty-four-seven, three-six-however many days it takes them to study it. Nobody is taking it. Believe me. I've looked at enough of YOUR plans to be able to learn where we need to be genere savvy by now. It'll be fine."

"I still think-" you stop as your Uncle-in-everything-but-title squeezes your shoulder a bit.

"Cassie. You and Jude both have a bunch of Vacation days saved up, right?" He asks. You nod. "Take them. Trust me, you two need it. You're worrying over nothing. If Damara wanted the Sangraal for anything, she'd have taken it back after you'd first created it, not wait a couple of weeks to steal it to... do what exactly? Blow up a few different dimensions worth of jerk-off Ascendants? Knock off a few extra Anubises? Anubii? Whatever, you know what I mean."

"...I mean..." you frown. "When you put it like that..."

"Cassie, you're over working yourself. Go take a break. Go fishing or something. Take Jude and Penny and go to Disneyworld or Legoland or something! Go have fun! Be a family! Don't worry about work. The rest of the team can manage it while you're gone. You and you alone are NOT the key to saving the universe." Jack O'neill smiles. "C'mon, trust me on this one, Cassie. When have I ever been wrong about something like this?"

"...I can think of a few times," you then remind him about the time he tried baking you all a cake and mixed up baking soda for baking powder, and decided to put BOTH in "for good measure."

Jack winces, withdrawing his hand from your shoulder as if scalded. "Okay, fine. Not my greatest shining moment."

"Jane still has no idea how you managed to set the refrigerator on fire," you add on. "I don't either. The vibes clearly said that-"

"Aahaah!" Jack waggles a finger. "No Vibe talk! Don't focus on that! Don't focus on what could have gone wrong compared to what did!"

You frown, "But that's been my Thing, Jack. That's my THING. I'm Cassandra the doomsayer, except I got used to my vibes being believed instead of ignored."

Jack sighs. "Well, maybe you should see about finding another new thing to be yours, huh?"

"...I... I guess I can try," you say. "I just... I feel like Damara's up to something."

"Cassie, they're ALWAYS up to something. That's what the Badguys do. But let me put it this way," Jack says, "I'd sooner trust Damara to do something bad to other people in another dimension so that way we don't have to over Ba'al deciding to, I don't know, become a philanthropist humanitarian and give up all notions of galactic conquest."

"...Yeah, that does seem a bit... unlikely," you agree.

"Go talk with Jude, figure out your holiday plans, and," Jack holds out his hand. "Let go of that burden of yours for once in your life, alright?"

You nod, and hand over the two Captchalogue cards containing the Sangraal.

You seriously hope you just didn't make a huge mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *tired sigh* ...I probably could have waited to start uploading next week, and just taken this one to rest more, but... damn it, i've gotta get into it again or else i never will get back to it again. 
> 
> Needless to say, though, you guys are in for a treat this week. uploads will properly be mon-tues-wed-thurs-fri for a while, I suspect. ^^; 
> 
> Alright. That's that. Not much else to say on that.
> 
> Let's talk the chapter!!
> 
> We've got a glimpse at Alfheim/Aincrad and how they're progressing along since the last proper check in which was... who knows how long ago. LOL. 
> 
> Rose and Kanaya are meddling with Tok'ra Tunneling Crystals, and we briefly check in on the Pegasus galaxy too. 
> 
> The major thing for this chapter, though, is confirming, atleast in one very specific meta sense, who the *Narrator* of this story truly is. More of a Transcriber of Events, really. And that Narrator is Mikari Aiikho. There's a couple of reasons for this, but the main one mainly is to settle a debate inside my own head across the run time of this story. Who is the Narrator? I've bounced between so many characters... In the end, it felt fitting to gift that title to Mikari.
> 
> Mikari, after all, spawned from Hiveswap concept art of a character who got scrapped, but I didn't realize that at the time when I first started to write her in. She's something of a canon foreigner to the entire crossover setting at this point. Half-OC, Half-something else entirely. Out of everyone... I think she felt to be the right character to be a Narrator type for this story.


	42. SG1:10X14: The Shroud

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Damara goes fishing.

**EARTH DATE: JULY 23RD, 2002.**  
  
 **DIASPORA DATE: 01/31/0006.**  
  
It's almost ready. 

Your name is Damara Megido, and you smile as you stare out into space at the giant metal ring your faithful little pet Venjix has begrudgingly built for you.

Just another couple of days for the final structural parts and the initial tests to be finished, and then all it needs is for you to be able to steal the Final Piece from Aincrad...

Setting up Goa'uld and sneaking them into various places to sabotage the various places has been a real 'sharp thorn in your fleshy rear' as you so recently put it to Ba'al, but its a necessary pain.

  
Soon, you'll have everything you need.

And soon...

Soon, the shroud you've veiled upon the multiverse will be lifted.

You have the tempting bait. You have the lure, line, and reel... You have the pond... 

You just need the ROD to FINISH THE JOB.

* * *

 

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw)

* * *

 

Your name is Rodney Mckay, and it's been three weeks now since you've left Atlantis.  
  
Honestly, you've got quite the job infront of you, decoding the MYSTERIES of MERLIN'S WEAPON- the SANGRAAL. A weapon of the caliber deserves the all caps description treatment. (That was Sarcasam.)

It wiped out a whole two universes worth of Milky Way Galaxy Ascended Beings, and no wonder the Ancients wanted it destroyed so bad. You were worried bringing it here to Aincrad would cause trouble, but so far.... after a week of work, tests, and experiments... nobody's come to intervene. 

You suspect that has something to do with the fact that a large, hefty chunk of Atlantis' population seems to have never ascended to join their ranks in this timeline, seemingly including MERLIN HIMSELF. They probably just have no idea what the hell this thing even is.

If only YOU didn't know what it was.

The Sangraal is a glorified white noise machine that operates on a specific plane of existence. The main body builds up a charge of some low density particle, and directs it into a specific plane of existence through the shiny glowing orb at the top. 

That's it. That is literally it. That is all it does.  

It barely counts as a weapon, really. Even if the energy were dumped into THIS plane of existence, the worst that would happen is everyone across the galaxy would have some ringing in their ears for a few seconds as they processed the energy wave's influence on the audible sound spectrum... if their ears could even hear that low pitched ring of a noise. 

Things operating on the physical plane of existence just... aren't affected by this. It's harmless energy emissions. You couldn't even use this thing to power a Stargate if you wanted to. 

All it does is make some noise that certain energy based lifeforms find utterly intolerable to listen to, and their minds shatter in the process, dispersing their very being into the cosmic winds of space-time.

The scientists of Aincrad want to make a targeted version of it. Handheld gun blasters incase they ever come across rogue Ascendants like the Andromeda group in this reality. Like the Anti-Replicator Guns, really. 

You're all for that. It's easily replicatable, actually. But...

What's the point?

It's a glorified white noise machine.

There is no point.

All of this fuss.... for a Gods Damned Glorified WHITE NOISE MACHINE. It doesn't even run for longer than a handful of seconds once fully charged up. It's truly amazing it can span the range of a whole galaxy in that time, but...

It's a white noise machine.

That's it.

You feel so incredibly underwhelmed. 

* * *

 

"You know, I'm honestly beginning to wonder why the hell any of us even bother with trying to maintain job security in this day and age," Gordon Freeman lamented aloud to anyone who would be around to hear it.

That would be you, in this case, DOCTOR GINA KAE.

You're both still working on refining the computer virus for the Wraith Tech Vulnerability despite everything because why should progress be stalled? 

"We still have our jobs, Doctor Freeman," you remind him.

He counters, "In the span of the last FIVE YEARS, relative to me, I've gone from College PHD Graduate to a high stakes Military Research Facility that got BLOWN THE FUCK UP by sabotage from the president of the place working under orders from some CIA-Alien-Guy in a SUIT and a Briefcase to trigger an ALIEN APOCALYPSE, lost my job, survived insanity, got HIRED by the bastard who ordered the facility blown up, went to do the 'next job' without any on the job training, and then started to overthrow the Alien Equivalent of the planet's new slave masters- started blowing up the ex president's shit, got PULLED OUT of the place by the new boss before I could finish the job, then got co-opted and sub-contracted by MORE ALIENS to continue finishing the job, annoying me new boss who I didn't even really want to work for in the first place, and then get REPLACED by my friend's daughter when it comes down to actually FINISHING THE JOB!" Freeman doesn't even really pause for breath during that whole rant. "And THEN i get rescued, hired on to work in ATLANTIS, and then we ALL GET FIRED and shuffled off to another dimension entirely just so that way we can waste time until we MAYBE get our jobs back!?"

"We're still doing nothing differently than what we were doing before except for where we're doing it," you tell him. 

"But YOU! You left a research expedition to a LOST ALIEN CITY buried beneath a volcano just to work in Atlantis!" Freeman continues rambling. "You can't tell me you're not atleast MODERATELY pissed! Minorly even? C'mon, give me some work room here."

"I left the DRC due to the insanity that was one of our co-workers showing anti-alternian aggression to the point he attacked everyone within a neighborhood with an electrified knife," you tell him. "And that was AfTER I'd reported him several times for his behavior being unbecoming of a professional environment. As it is, Atlantis, and here in Aincrad, have been astoundingly peaceful in comparison."

"Okay, fine. But listen, the way I see it, we're one bad day away from someone deciding even Aincrad isn't worth keeping the Atlantis Expedition funded and running and we all get split up to the far corners of the multiverse to do who knows what. And then where will we be? Fired! Probably!"

"Are you always this pessimistic?" you ask.

"You would be too if you've seen the shit I'VE seen! Ravenholm. Never again." He shudders. 

"And what exactly counts as a 'one bad day' for your nightmare scenario to trigger, then?" you ask.

"Uhhhh. Have you HEARD about all the sabbotage going on around here lately? Not just Aincrad, but AAAAAAAALL of the fucking flying giant castle ships that break the square cube law. There's no way these things should be floating unless gravity itself is a law that doesn't exist here."

"I've heard of the sabotage."

"Then we're just one bad day away from someone breaking security, and STEALING something they shouldn't steal at all!"

"Like what?"

"I don't know, that 'Sangraal' thing maybe? You can't get off naming a weapon THE BLOOD STONE or THE HOLY GRAIL without it being a thing people want to steal from whoever has it currently. And that includes US! Someone's going to steal it, mark my words! Whether or not we NOTICE is all up to THEM! Before we know it, we could all be wiped out because someone turned the thing on US!"

"You sound incredibly paranoid, Doctor Freeman. The Sangraal doesn't target mortal beings."

"That's what they said about the chances of a RESONANCE CASCADE! But NO! They went and did it anyways! Story of my LIFE, Gina. Story. Of. My. Life. Man, I'm REALLY missing my suit right about now. I feel all KINDS of unprotected here."

"Maybe you should have chosen to stay in Pegasus then," you say.

"No way no how! Not without Atlantis' shields keeping the Wraith out, you're LUCKY you managed to get me to even step through the Stargate back to Earth in the first place, let alone use a quantum mirror to come to a whole other parallel dimension!"

"Acknowledging that, I have to ask what you think anyone would even want with the Sangraal at this point, Doctor Freeman? It strictly targets Ascended Beings."

"I don't know and that's the problem! If I had MY SAY I'd smash the thing with a crowbar and be DONE with it before someone stole the damned thing."

* * *

 

Captain Asuna Yuki of the Aincrad defense force stared at the multi layers of security keeping the Sangraal boxed away from the rest of the world.

Seven layers of force fields, two Bank Vault steel doors, an actual Bank Vault, a series of laser trip webs, and five solid trinium framed, tranquilizer gas pressurized, glass boxes-- each feature locked behind a different genetic lock keyed to a different person...

All of them needing to be activated within five seconds of each other in order to access the Sangraal at the center of it all, and which would NEVER be removed from the room unless it was to be returned to safe storage in the other dimension.

And there were people who thought this was overkill for security? Of course it was. It was a damned White Noise Machine. Why would anyone dare to steal the thing?

For starters the security was tight, and there was no way anyone could get their hands on the-

That's when there was a sudden warping of space time, and the exact center of the vault containing the myriad stack of glass cubes and the Sangraal were suddenly replaced with a large stone sphere. 

Alarms sounded, and Captain Asuna Yuki could only close her eyes as she grit her teeth in frustration.

Dimensional Displacement.

Of COURSE they'd not design a countermeasure to dimensional Displacement.

* * *

 

Your name is Gordon Freeman and....

"I KNEW IT!!!!!"

* * *

 

"Damara just stole the Sangraal out of Aincrad's storage facility," you are now Jonas Quinn, and you deliver the news to SG-1 in the conference room with a grim shake of your head.

"Wait, what? How?" Mitchel asks.

"Let me guess, teleport swap?" Rider asks.

"Probably that one," Vala nods.

"Giant stone sphere replaced the exact center of the vault," you inform them. "Every security measure in place just... useless. Because nobody figured out a way to make it so that Damara couldn't use Clarent to teleport it out of the vault."

"Cassie's so going to tell us a big fat 'told you' when she finds out," Mitchel says.

"So, let's go find Damara and steal it back before she finds out," Vala suggests.

"And how do we do that?" You ask. "We have no idea where in the multiverse she's even set up shop in."

"We trick her with a fake Sangraal," Vala says. "Make it sound like she stole the FAKE. We brag about how we have the real one with us."

That's when the Stargate suddenly dials in with an unscheduled activation.

You head down to the Gate room on a hunch, and sure enough, a Ba'al hologram appears at the base of the Ramp.

"Oh, it's been a while since he's done this," you observe.

_**"To SG-1, I feel I should advise you that I literally just had part of one of my cloning experiments stolen away and replaced with a damaged vault display containing the Bottom Half of what I believe to be a badly mangled Sangraal, along with a note from our mutual acquaintance Damara Megido saying 'thanks for the idea to use a fake as a decoy.' If you're willing to take it, we can come to an arrangement. I don't want it, and if you don't want it, I'll just destroy it in the unstable vortex of the Stargate. I'll call back in five minutes to see if you've made a decision."** _

You share a glance with Mitchel, who sighs. "Damn it."

* * *

 

It took a bit of convincing to have Ba'al send the remains of the Sangraal to a secondary location and have it retrieved by an SG-team there, but it was done. 

You are now RIDER, and you stare at the utterly mangled trinium and glass frame as well as the battered bottom half of the Sangraal device.

"She stole the orb!" You glare at it. "She took the piece that makes the whole thing work on that specific ascended plane of existence and destroyed the rest of it!"

"Why the hell would she do that for?" Mitchel asks.

"...I don't know, all it does is serve as a conduit into that plane of existence," you summarize from the brief bits of knowlege you retained from finishing the device.

"The main body is what generated the energy to begin with. The crystal just... funneled it... elsewhere..." you suddenly start to have a horrible feeling.

"Don't tell me," Jonas starts, "Damara stole the Crystal that targets that specific plane of existence so she can put a DIFFERENT type of energy into it."

"I think I speak for all of us when I say, 'oh, damn it all,'" Vala laments. 

"Cassie's 'I told you so' is going to be so fucking huge at this point." Mitchel sighs.

* * *

 

Your name is General Jack O'neill. Two L's, and you.... 

You should have listened to Cassie's gut feelings.

Damn it. You're such an idiot. 

You should have listened. She even laid it right out then and there. The Mythological Cassandra who was cursed to always tell the truth but never be believed... and without her powers telling you to believe her, you didn't.

You chalked it up to the stress. To the chaos that had permeated your lives and...

You put your head in your hands and groan.

Fucking hell.

Damara stole the Sangraal so easily it was laughable. Who even knows what she even wants with it. SG-1 has their theories, and good for them...

But now you have to deal with the fallout.

You screwed up.

You royally screwed up.

Why didn't you just let Cassandra keep the damned thing in her Sylladex??

It feels so... damned... out of character for you.

...Maybe it's the stress from helping Sam plan a Wedding during your off hours from managing all this Intergalactic Politics Business.

...You brought this on yourself in so many ways it isn't even funny.

* * *

 

Your name is Damara Megido, and as you carefully- CAREFULLY- pry apart the hilt and handle to CLARENT, you can't help but feel a smug sense of satisfaction.

Time is finally on YOUR SIDE and not HIS.

The Big Fish English will have all of his pieces that you can find shoved into that single giant puzzle box of a shell, and he will be COMPACTED like TRASH inside that Black Hole's grasp.

You remove a few pieces of Clarent's innards- taking careful caution to maintain all of the important wiring connections- and shuffle them aside just enough so that you can remove this GAUDY DECORATIVE CRYSTAL residing within the hilt.

It doesn't even GLOW when the sword is in any of its empowered modes. It just... sits there, idle, taking up space.

Gaudy, decorative, useless. Exactly what the Andromeda Ascendants exemplified when they designed this sword, riffing off of Merlin's own recreation of CALIBURN in EXCALIBER. 

You remove that useless gemstone, and place in the core crystal for the SANGRAAL, and then start bridging the gaps between it and the rest of Clarent's internal parts with some other KEY COMPONENTS you savagely 'rescued' from the base device. You spent some time in a frozen bubble of time examining how to make it work... and you've got the general gist of how things are going to go.

You temporarily secure everything and run a quick test power, and lo and behold, the Sangraal crystal hums with energy. 

Perfect.

You power down, and start making those temporary securing parts vastly more... 

PERMANENT.

Then, you reassemble everything the way its supposed to go, snap the sword back together, and seal it up again.

You take Clarent, and power it on again.

Now, where a formerly lifeless gemstone resided, the Sangraal glows from within CLARENT'S HILT- humming away with power and energy.

You crack a smile that rapidly turns into a grin.

Your ROD is complete.

Now? Now it's time to go FISHING. 

You sheath your sword at your waist, and head to find VENJIX.

"Tell me, boy, how goes our plan?" you inquire upon finding him at work, as always, observing the final tests of your glorious weapon.

"We are on schedule," Venjix reports, grunting. "However, I fear the capacitors we sourced from that fool Monroe may have been intentionally sourced with defective materials. The power outputs are not climbing as fast as we need them too."

"Will they hold for long enough to complete our plan?" You ask.

"...I am not sure they will power up to the proper levels to even Start the plan," Venjix answers. "Our best solution would be to source replacements as soon as possible."

"I see," you muse. "Very well. Do you have any suggestions?"

"Yes, actually," Venjix hands you a computer tablet. "These few fools who scattered when the Ultrazord attacked the Lucian Alliance base at the center of the Galaxy have within their possession several Mofang devices with the proper capacitors within them. They will serve as more than adequate replacements for what we need."

"And where are they now?" You ask, peering at the images on the tablet.

"Unsure," Venjix says, "however, I have traced certain subspace communications between them and some of their suppliers of food and other illegal consumables. It appears the SGC has been harassing their freight shipments on the side, and specifically, SG-1 has been behind a great number of these attacks when they have not been busy harassing the Andromeda Deadbeats or us. And with us laying low for the foreseeable future and the Andromeda Deadbeats being dead... SG-1 will no doubt refocus their efforts mopping up the stragglers of the Lucian Alliance."

"I see," you crack a grin. "So we we wait for them to go after SG-1, and while they are distracted doing that, we steal what we need from them."

Brilliant.

The Shroud of mystery around your project will have to wait to be lifted for a little while longer then, it seems.

But the wait? Oh, it will be worth it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's a thing that happened.
> 
> SCHEDULE:  
> Next chapter: INTERMISSION: Exasperating the Situation.  
> Following that: SG1:10X15: Bounty  
> And then rounding out the week: SG1:10X19: An Anachronistic Reprise of A Resonance Cascade
> 
> Yes, that's right, it's out of order. It'd actually air that late in the season arc rather than in the chronological order I'm going with if this were airing on tv properly. Why? Because it's right there in the title.


	43. INTERMISSION: Exasperating the Situation.

**EARTH DATE: JULY 26TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 02/03/0006.**  
  
In two separate dimensions, two people awoke with red gleams in their eyes as a message was relayed to them.

The message was from Damara Megido, and read as followed:

"The Time draws near. Make your final preparations."

Where the one of them then went back to sleep, all preparations made save for the final stage of going to the place needed at the right time, the other got out of her bed, dressed in dark, form concealing clothes, and stole out into the night of Corinth City.

Already construction was being done to expand the city out past its domed limits- reclamation of the world outside was going to be needed to be done and was being done- as well as those being done to repair damage done to the city during the final fight against Venjix. 

But Artoria Pendragon cared not at this point. 

Her mind was simply... not present in any state that could be considered 'awake' even as her body moved of its own volition.

Step, step, step, step, through the darkened night sky of the city that was pierced, pierced, pierced, pierced by the spotlights shinning upwards at various ramps and other structures being put into place so that work to restore Corinth's CONTROL TOWER could be done.

Were she aware of the concept, and were she even conscious, Artoria might have likened the visual to a massive, sprawling toy-car race track that tied itself into nonecludian knotts when viewed from the right angles.

But she wasn't aware and she wasn't conscious.

And so it was that she exited the city, summoned Clarent to hand, and teleported away, across the continent, towards the crashed city she had come to this planet with.

She appeared with a flicker of a shadowstep atop a hill, overlooking as the structures were being torn apart by the night-shift work crews and scavenged and salvaged for scrap parts, to be used to build a new city from scratch elsewhere. 

Some of the Ranger's Zords were here, providing cargo lift to take things to where-ever they needed to go.

Not for the first time, Artoria teleported within the core remains of one of the central spires, and descended towards a certain hidden room that had yet to even be visited by those tearing things apart.

She opened the door, and approached the last of the stasis pods containing what appeared to be a living person... but infact was just a failed clone of Ba'al's that served as the perfect smuggling capsule for what was needed...

And had anyone discovered this room, unlikely as that possibility was, and attempted to rescue any of the clones? They would have died upon leaving the stasis pod, and they'd have disposed of the body, never knowing what they had in their possession.

As it was, every other pod now contained nothing but mutilated corpses.

Artoria thawed him out, caught the body as it breathed its last breaths, and began cutting into it with Clarent.

She removed two items- one of which was a small sack containing some kind of organic creatures that Damara had been cultivating over the many weeks of using a certain dimension-wall piercing cloaking device. And she teleported away to her next destination before those creatures could recover from their thawing. 

She arrived in a large, wide open place where certain creatures  native to the continent that had survived the nuclear blasts and the swarms of Nanomachines and waves Zillyum poisoning were gathering. 

They were already monsters in their own rights.

Damara's plan required them to be something MORE.

And so, Artoria implanted two of the monstrous mutagenic creatures within breeding pairs, and then encapsulated the entire settlement of monsters inside a bubble of accelerated time with Clarent's blade. 

Then, she accelerated it faster than she had the others, bringing its contents to a point to equal the others much faster.

Then, when that was accomplished, she dismissed every time bubble containing these creatures. When the bubbles fell, various hordes of monsters ten times greater than they'd been before, and ten times as numerous, resided within the formerly bounded fields.

And without their walls, the creatures quickly dispersed into the wilderness... though most seemed attracted to the glowing lightshow that was Corinth City.

The distraction of these creatures appearing so suddenly would be exactly what Damara needed over the next few weeks. And it would provide her time to implement the final piece of the puzzle.

To the contents of the other bag, Artoria waited until the creatures began to cause the distractions they were meant to be. 

She teleported back into Coirnth City, into the framed in structure meant to replace the fallen control tower, and removed a small device from the bag. 

It was a box, small, black, and smooth surfaced save for the red LED bulb resting on one face.

Artoria used Clarent to cut a small plate away, exposing a gap where two large steel beams met, and would obscure the box from sight. In it was wedged,and the plate was returned to its place, time rewound along its edges to reverse the cutting.

Nobody would know it was here, and when the time was right... it would be activated and do exactly what it was meant to do- which was summon the monsters back to Corinth City for an even larger attack than the distraction currently going on outside.

And so Artoria returned to her home, and returned to her silent vigil, awaiting for the minute she would be able to finally activate their glorious plan.

But it wasn't really Artoria, not really. 

For one reason or another, Artoria Pendragon was completely unaware of everything her body had been doing since that dreadful moment she'd been possessed by Damara Megido.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Geeze, things are raring to get out of hand quick, aren't they?
> 
> Tomorrow: another of those chapters I've just been *itching* to get done. X33


	44. SG1:10X15: Bounty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mitchel goes home.

**EARTH DATE: JULY 28TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 02/05/0006.**  
  
It had been almost four weeks.

Four weeks since the SGC had declared war on the Lucian Alliance during their foiling of the attempt to take the ODYSSEY from them, and the Lucian Alliance had been splintered slightly... then utterly FRACTURED with the destruction of the gods who had backed their founding.

Things were not going well, and especially considering that the SGC was going around and harassing their shipment ships now. And leading the charge at the most prominent of the disasters was SG-1.

Such as was the case for today.

A Ring platform activated, and Cameron Mitchel found himself within a large container ship full of storage containers. It was being towed behind an Al'kesh, that much he knew.

"I'm in," Mitchel radio'd, and began sneaking around. He opened a crate, and looks inside. A moment later, he moves to another crate to check inside. He removes a silver bag from inside, and then cuts it open with a knife. Out spills some corn-like kernels. Mitchel radios, "Intel's good. We've got ourselves another space train full of Evil Orville Redenbacher."

"Roger that," Vala radios- from the second car in the line, with Mitchel being in the first.

She notices a green light washing over the contents of the car, and then radios, "Be aware, they are scanning for us. Looks like they upgraded the security after the last car."

"Lets make it quick then," Mitchel radios.

Vala continues to work, planting devices from her sylladex onto crates.

Elsewhere, further down the line, Rider finishes planting devices. "I'm done." he radios.

And then in the last car, "Me too," Jonas confirms.

SG-1 regroup at the ring platforms and begin transporting out... Save for Mitchel, who is too slow and has to hide as the platform activates earlier, and four Lucian Alliance Soldiers ring in, and begin peering around for the intruder they detected.

"Shiiit," Mitchel hisses into the radio. "Guys, I've got company and a ticking clock!"

"If you can get to the ring platform we can ring you onboard," Vala says.

"Yeah, got that," Mitchel, checks his watch- 40 seconds. And then he springs up and opens fire with his P-90.

He rushes the ring platform- shooting all the way and tanking fire thanks to a personal forcefield he'd stolen off of one of their previous raids just earlier that week- and then "NOW NOW NOW!"

The rings activate, and Mitchel lands in the ring bay of a Tel'tak cargo ship.

"Nice Timing!" He says.

"You're welcome!" Vala pulls him to his feet, then calls out, "We've got him!"

The Tel'tak decloaks from its hidden spot at the far end of the space train and immediately U-turns to rocket away before-

_**BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!** _

The four container ships behind the Al'kesh explode in line, taking the Al'kesh with it.

* * *

 

The Lucian Alliance's management that had survived the ruthless shattering of their order gathered at a conference table in a secret area.

Netan enters, as does Vashin from the opposite side of the room.

They glare at eachother, then sit down.

"Another transport was hit near Rolan," Vashin reports. "We've lost four containers full of Kassa, and the Al'kesh escorting them."

"SG-1," Netan surmises.

"This is the third transport they've hit this week," one of the other leaders speaks up. "Our supply of kassa is getting dangerously low."

"This isn't about kassa," Netan growls. "This is them trying to make us look weak and starving us out. The drug trade won't matter if we die of starvation.  We cannot allow them to interfere with our operations any longer. Put the word out. I'm placing a bounty on their Heads!"

"With what money?" Vashin asks. "We run low without our backers or the Kassa trade thriving."

"With a position on the council," Netan says. "Any of our lower ranking members who can take out all six members of SG-1 are to be promoted to the council rank."

The others consider that, and they agree.

It is a sizable reward indeed.

* * *

 

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw)

* * *

 

 **EARTH DATE: JULY 30TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 02/07/0006.**

"Please!"

"No!"

"Please please please!"

"Vala! It's just a highschool reunion. In Kansas. Middle Of Nowhere. You'd be bored out of your mind."

"I'm bored out of my mind HERE, Cam!!"

And thus the whining passed into unhearability as Vala Mal Doran harassed Cameron Mitchel while walking past your office.

Your name is Davis Strider, and you sip at your coffee as you work the Early Morning Shift at the SGC.

Nepeta's safely out of your hair visiting her namesake friend in Alternia, Karkat's working on following leads that might've come up from Terezi's visions... And you...

You feel an itch. As if a gear is caught on another gear and is trying to twist itself out of the way.

SG-1 is on break following their latest mission. Health and Safety's orders. Also the team's Psychologist and Therapist's orders too. Jude and Cassie are still on vacation from their last break- the first week was meant to be just the two of them, this second week now them with Penny as a family. The Rest of SG-1 were to see things through with what was on their docket as it was- the Sangraal thing and some of the Lucian Alliance Raids- before taking a solid break from everything they were doing.

Unless an emergency came up requiring their attention, of course, but the Galaxy seems... stable for the moment. No Andromeda Ascendants. Damara laying low. The Lucian Alliance shattered and whimpering towards death...

Ba'al is really the only major player left on the field at this point and he seems poised for a reflection period too.

It should be a good break.

Yeah.

It should be a good break.

Then why do you feel like you're waiting for the other shoe to drop?

* * *

 

"Just tell me one good reason why I should invite you along?" Mitchel asks as he enters the cafeteria, Vala trailing behind him.

Oh, this ought to be good. You look up from your meal.

"Well, Traditionally these events entail the bringing together of large groups of people who share a common bond in the past, and have relatively nothing in common in the present. THUS, Everyone evaluates eachother's lot in life, generally by the virtue of some combination of material wealth AND the attractiveness of one's date, spouse or life partner!" Vala exclaims what had to be a rehearsed speech.

"No!" Mitchel says. "You can't be my date!"

 _"PLEAAAASEEEE CAAAAAM!"_ Vala cries out. "If not me, then who!? Who will be your plus one!?"

Mitchel glances around the entire Cafeteria, then locks eyes on you. "Rider."

"Huh?" You blink. "What?"

Your name is RIDER, and you heavily suspect you just got roped into something you don't know how to wriggle out of.

"Whaaat! Come on, Cam!" Vala protests. "It's Kansas! Rurual Americana! I've done the research! I know that *Socially* you're expected to bring a hot girl along for the ride and look! I'm a hot girl! Rider's an attractive man, yes, but he's a MAN! Not a hot girl!"

"I feel like I should take offense to that for any alternate me's that actually like being a girl," you remark loud enough for Vala to hear as Mitchel practically drags them both over to your table. "Just sayin'."

Vala sulks a bit as she hears that, and then mumbles a "Sorry. Just speaking objectively."

"Please just say you'll go so you can spare me the trouble of having to bring along her?" Mitchel begs you.

"And why don't you want her to go with wherever it is you're going?" you ask.

"Because Vala said she wants to see my reaction when I tell my parents that I work at the SGC, and I don't trust her to not say something embarrassing after everything people keep alluding to about something in my family's past that apparently ties back to the SGC in SOME WAY that everyone refuses to tell me about!" Mitchel huffs.

"And also. She's asked WAY too many times in ways that make it clear she wants to pretend to be my GIRLFRIEND. I'm asking you, Rider, to come to my highschool reunion as my plus one- as a TEAM MATE, which Vala here refuses to accept."

"They'll never accept you just bringing a coworker, Cam! I've READ the Internets!" Vala proclaims. "They're going to tear you alive for not bringing a proper date!!"

"So let them 'tear me alive' then!" Mitchel says, crossing his arms. "Look. Jonas is off helping Teal'c with Jaffa history, Jude and Cassie are off vacationing, and YOU are being way too pushy about wanting to, and I quote, 'Witness the fresh drama as it's spilled forth from the wine cask,' Vala!"

"You gotta admit," you say, "he nailed your vocal inflections there."

"Yes yes, very impressive." Vala waves it off. "BUT! What about this! And hear me out because I'm incredibly bored and this might solve BOTh of our problems! BUUUUT! Why not take us both?"

You and Mitchel share a glance, and then Vala helpfully adds:

"Don't make me personally requisition General O'neill to get me to tag along, because you KNOW he'll make me go along so I can record it for posterity."

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: JULY 31ST, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 02/08/0006.**

"You know what's good?" your name is Jack O'neill, and you grin as Cam Mitchel drives you down the road towards his childhood home. "Team Bonding! There's nothing QUITE like meeting the families of everybody you work with at least once! Maybe twice! It's like... Opening a fresh bottle of wine, or tearing open a fresh wheel of cheese."

"Or maybe catching a fish from a lake!" Sam grins from next to you.

They made Vala actually ask you for permission.

...And who were you to pass up an opportunity for an impromptu vacation? So you not only ordered her to come along, you tagged yourself and Sam to come along too.

You and her are in the middle seating area, Mitchel and Rider up in the front, and Vala...

"I'm surprised that we all fit," Vala remarks as she closes a small mini fridge, a bottle of soda in hand. "Who knew you two had an old camper?"

"Actually, it used to be my parents," Mitchel remarks. "They said they sold it years ago. How the hell did you two get it?"

"Well we bought it, obviously," Sam replies, cheekily.

"Duh," You agree.

"So is this it, huh?" Mitchel asks. "I finally find out the big mystery of what's going on with my parents and you guys, huh?"

"Yup~p!" You answer.

And there it is, a large red barn-style house with a lot of flower power out front and along the sides of the walkway heading to said front door. There's a bunch of other farm buildings everywhere.

Yep, they're sure living the life alright.

And speaking of, there are those two friendly friends of yours from way back when- looking like they aged pretty gracefully from the wild hippies you and Sam met back in 1969- standing at the end of the road where it terminates at a driveway.

"MIKE! JEN!" You greet once the van comes to a stop and everyone can disembark.

"JACK! SAM!" they greet in turn. And much merry making is had as you exchange the usual time-travel related pleasantries.

"What the hell?" Mitchel asks. "Mike and Jen? That's not their names..."

"Not anymore obviously," Vala remarks with a grin.

"Alright!" you say. "You know your own son, Cam! But here are a couple of his teammates from SG-1. That's Vala Mal Doran, and Rider Pendragon. Vala, Rider, Cam, meet Jennifer and Michael- the Hippies SG-1 hitched a ride with back in 1969!"

* * *

 

You are Samantha Carter, and you're thoroughly enjoying finally catching up with old friends. You've relocated to a small picnic table in the yard.

"So, after we parted ways in New York, we decided that we really just wanted to live the quiet life," Formerly Michael now FRANK MITCHEL explains. "The Farm idea really stuck with us and we really wanted it badly."

"Luckily while we were at Woodstock," Formerly Jenifer now WENDY MITCHEL, "we came across an old military man looking to sell his farm. Real kindly fellow, name was actually the reverse of yours, Cam."

"What?" Mitchel stares blankly as you process that. "His name was Mitchel Cameron??"

"Exactly!" Wendy nods. "We took the inspiration when he sold us the place. He even went and helped us change our names! Actually, we think he might have been a time traveler too!"

"Really now?" You ask, leaning forwards. "Why's that?"

"Well, he had new ID's with our photos on them already made for us for starters!" Frank says.

"He also introduced himself to us as being from SG-1," Wendy winks with a giggle.

"Bloody hell," Mitchel groans, placing his head in hands. "I hate time travel."

"If it makes you feel any better, we're pretty certain that's not a stable time loop," you say. "More... an offshoot timeline affecting ours?"

"Oh, like what happened with Atlantis and Jade!" Vala excitedly surmises.

"Something like that," Jack waves it off.

"Speaking of Jade!" Wendy starts. "How is she? And how that Skaara doing these days? I hope he's taking care of himself, and being a proper uncle for her."

"Oh, Skaara's doing fine," Jack answers. "Lives the quiet life these days. I just was talking with him the other day actually! Apparently, he's taken up zen sand gardening! Kind of a futile task if you ask me, living in a desert with nothing but sand and wind, but... Power to him!"

"That's nice," Wendy says.

"Jade is..." Jack winces.

"Let's just say more time travel got involved and there's two of her running around," you summarize. "One of her's still pre-teen, the other's pretty much fully grown at this point. She's got two Matesprites now, and they're raising a kid together."

"Oh my," Wendy giggles.

"Time Travel sure does happen a lot, doesn't it?" Frank laughs.

"That it does," Jack nods. "They're actually staying in Pegasus right now while the whole Expedition kerfuffle is being ironed out," Jack pauses, then clarifies "The older ones, I mean. The kiddo-versions are bouncing back and forth between sitters during the summer, pretty much. Lots of extended family to visit now."

"Thats so nice!" Wendy smiles, clapping her hands together. "So! Enough about the past! Cam! What have YOU been up to?"

"Wait," Frank interjects. "Before I forget again, I forgot to tell you, Cam. Darrell called. Something about you helping set up tomorrow? I Left the number on the counter."

"Ah," Mitchel smiles, glad for the excuse. "Well. I'd better give him a call! Be right back." and thus, he absconds inside the house.

"So!" Wendy turns on Vala and Rider, who has been otherwise pretty silent the entire time since arriving. "You work with my son, huh? Tell me... how's my Cam been doing? He never tells me much!"

* * *

 

The target was in sight.

A woman dressed in leathers approached Jonas Quinn in a Jaffa Library.

"Doing some research?" She asks.

"Oh, uh, yes. Hi," Jonas smiles. "Do you work here?"

"No, I don't. Though maybe we could find whatever you're looking for together?" She offers, slightly flirtily.

"...Nah, It's okay. I think I'll ask at the desk. They should have it in the Items Archive."

And thus, he quickly absconds, the woman drowns.

This would be harder than she thought.

* * *

 

A Tel'tak began its approach to earth.

The Pilot ran scans... "I'm only picking up five signals. One must be off-world."

"We'll find them later." The co-pilot says.

And then they had no "later" to do any finding with, as an Al'kesh suddenly decloaked infront of them and fired off an explosive blast that destroyed them instantly.

They never had the chance to get their shields up.

* * *

 

Jonas was on his way back to the Stargate with Teal'c at his side when several explosions rocked the path. Both of them took cover by the DHD, and waited...

Then, they heard the cries of a ship's engine.

"What the fuck was that!?" Jonas asked.

"Cloaked Vessel," Teal'c surmised. "... They have left."

"Yeah, but... Why!?"

"...I have no idea."

* * *

 

Jude and Cassie sat on the beach of a certain ocean-front property in a nondescript, tropical location, watching as their daughter Penny peacefully snoozed beneath an umbrella.

A pair of men approached them from the side.

"Excuse me, are you-?" One of them started, but stopped as Cassandra sent him a death glare. The sudden appearance of a Zat gun in Jude's hand also made the other one take a step back in surprise.

Jude spoke, leaving no room for misunderstandings.

"If you're here about work, I'm only going to tell you once. We. Are. On. Va. Ca. Tion. If you don't leave now, I have express written permission from General O'neill himself to Zat you where you stand. Because EVERYONE at the SGC knows we're on break and not to be disturbed, and that anyone attempting to coerce us into doing anything is either stupidly misinformed, or trying to start shit. And I'm praying for your sake its the former rather than the latter."

The two men quickly left with a "Sorry, we mistook you for someone else."

Needless to say, they quietly exchanged looks with eachother that confirmed they had almost certainly just narrowly avoided death.

The look Cassandra gave them, and the tone of voice that Jude had used bore no other meanings.

Attempting to do anything to those three would result in immediate, and messy, ends, ship or no ship.

They would try the other three first.

* * *

 

In Auburn, Kansas, the George Washington High school Gymnasium was undergoing a dramatic redecorating.

Men and women all gingerly chatting about High school sat up various things in place. Banners and the like. You know. REUNION STUFF.

You are RIDER, and as you listen to Mitchel and one of his old SCHOOL BUDDIES regale you and Vala about the time they disassembled a teacher's car and REBUILT it- twice! Once to get it inside a classroom and once again to get it OUT on the teacher's orders.

It's not bad, hearing about all of this. Mitchel seems to have had a really... smooth and happy life compared to you and Vala. And Vala seems pretty enraptured with the idea of immersing herself into the culture of it all.

Given that "disclosure" was a thing- a concept you still don't quite grasp why it's important even after all this time- she goes on to tell a story similar to Mitchels about some adventure of hers in the past.

Mitchel seems a bit relieved to have the spotlight taken off of him for a bit.

Thankfully, nobody's dared direct it at you yet.

Everybody's curious though. They know Vala and you are his Teammates, but they've restrained from asking yet about SGC business. Maybe they're just waiting until the actual reunion starts? Who knows. You can see them staring occasionally, though.

You can practically hear their thoughts.

Who would have EVER thought that little farm boy Cam Mitchel would grow up to be a hero of the world? Let alone a hero of the Galaxy.

"So!" A woman you didn't catch the name of finally nudges over to you, having built up the courage to talk, and thus interrupting your thoughts. "Rider wasn't it? What a funny name. Is it a code name or something?"

"S'just temporary," you answer. "I'm working through some identity issues. Trying to separate myself from the person I used to be. So, I'm just 'Riding' the wave through, as it were."

"Ah," the woman nods. "And here I thought, knowing Cam, it was some crass nickname!"

"Nah, Crass Nicknames are my thing," Vala says, and the woman's attention is brought back onto her, and away from you.

You flash Vala an appreciative smile, which she returns with a nod.

And then the guy Mitchel was telling the car story with- DARRELL- suddenly jolts to attention- "Cam. Five O'clock. FIVE O'CLOCK!"

You and Mitchel turn to look behind him, and that's where you see a woman holding flowers on her way over towards your group.

"Oh F-Fudge," Mitchel flinches.

"What is it?" Vala asks.

"That's-" Darrell starts.

"I know who it is," Mitchel says. "Amy Vandenberg."

You've suddenly got a bad feeling about this.

"Cameron Mitchel, is that you?" This Amy Woman says upon entering conversational range. "I just saw you over here and thought I'd say 'hi,'" she then proceeds to approach and push into the personal space bubble of not just the small group you have, but into Mitchel's as well.

Fucking hell, he looks uncomfortable now, even if he's trying not to show it. Darrell and Vala are picking up on it too and are much less subtle about hiding it.

"It's been a Loooong Time," Amy continues with a slow drawl. "How have you been?"

"Uh, yeah, it has been," Mitchel deflects. "Hey! You remember Darrell, right?"

"Hey," Darrell extends his hand. "Homeroom, tenth grade?"

"Oh! Right!" Amy shakes his hands.

"How are you doing?" Darrell reflects her question onto her.

"Good!" Amy smiles.

"Good to see you." Darrell says, smiling, a bit less friendly.

"Good." Amy's smile flattens slightly.

"And I'm Vala Mal Doran!" Vala introduces herself. "I work with Cameron."

Amy's smile disappears entirely. "Ah. Right. And you're also probably his date, right?"

"I'm his plus one, technically," you say, and Amy's eyes turn on you. Everyone's does. Fuck. "I'm Rider. Mordred Rider. From SG-1. Also a teammate, but. Yeah."

"Right, um," Amy nods, awkwardly. "Well, it's, ah, it was nice seeing you, er, meeting you all, again." And then. "Okay, I'm going to go help now. See you all tonight."

And then she quickly absconds.

Mitchel exhales in relief.

"Darrell?" he asks. "Is she...?"

"Still single, and still harping after you," his friend confirms.

"May I just ask," Vala asks, "What the hell was that just now?"

"If we're lucky, she's just on the welcoming committee," Mitchel says. "If we're not... she's probably going to try and get me to be her homecoming king again."

"Again?" you ask.

"Long story short, I'm flattered, but not interested in Amy Vandenberg," Mitchel says. "She wasn't really interested in me as far as I could tell, just the idea of dating me. Atleast, back in the day. Who knows what she's thinking now."

"Atleast she backed off," Darrell said with a huff. "You remember graduation?"

"God, yes, I remember graduation," Mitchel finds the nearest foldout chair, sits down, and puts his head in his hands. "I was really hoping she'd skip this year."

"Ah," Vala surmises. "I think I know the type. Nice up until she doesn't get her way?"

"Like a candied apple with crisp, sweet caramel as a shell, and rotten to the core on the inside," Darrell confirms. "Not sure what changed her. She used to be a really sweet girl back before highschool."

"Can we not talk about this?" Mitchel asks.

"Alright, fine," Vala changes subjects. "Darrell, what do people do for fun around here?"

* * *

 

Your name is Sam Carter, and your cellphone rings- its the SGC.

"This is Samantha Carter."

 _"-----------rter, this is--------dry,"_ the signal is choppy and full of holes, but you recognize General Landry's voice. _"We--------ason to----pec-------the Luc------------is targeting----" **And then the signal cuts out.**_

You frown.

"Do we have a better cell reception anywhere?" You ask.

"Sorry," Frank shakes his head. "The company hasn't put in proper repeaters yet. The nearest cell tower is quite a bit out."

"You're welcome to borrow our house phone though," Wendy offers.

"Thanks," you get up.

"Problem?" Jack asks.

"Maybe," you answer. "I'm going to call back and find out."

And so you go into the house and dial the SGC...

...

...

No signal? That's odd.

You try again.

...

...

And again...

...

...

And. Again...

...

...  
...

 _[That's not right,]_ Jolinar says. _[The Land Line should be connecting at least.]_

You try your own damned cellphone.

It doesn't even ring.

...

...

...

"Something's not right," you frown.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, an absolute idiot attempted to take out Jude and Cassandra Fraiser-Harley despite the warnings his companions had given him.

He constructed a sniper rifle, took aim at the hotel room window through which both could be seen, and...

Cassandra stepped into view.

**_BANG!_ **

The window shattered, but the woman didn't react except for dispersing in a burst of light particles.

"...What?" The Sniper stared, and did a double take.

The room's OTHER occupant had similarly dispersed into light as well.

Then, the poor Lucian Alliance sniper heard the sound of two opening Zats behind him.

"I thought we told you to back off," Jude asked.

"Why couldn't you just back off and leave us alone?" Cassandra asked in turn.

"...Damn it," The Sniper hung his head. "Asgard Holograms?"

"We thought we'd set a trap after your friends came to bug us earlier," Jude answers. "Also. You got here about ten minutes too late. General Landry called us to let us know one of you idiots tried blasting Jonas Quinn to pieces with a cloaked Cargo ship."

"...What idiot did that??" The sniper asked. "Broken up and unidentifiable bodies don't count for the 'dead' version of the bounty."

"A bounty, huh?" Cassandra asked, and then-

**_PCH-ZYU!!!_ **

The sniper knew no more until he woke up in an SGC holding cell an hour and a half later.

* * *

 

A thorough distraction of a shooting range later, and you are happier than you would be otherwise.

Your name is Vala Mal Doran, and you peer through binoculars at the high school as you watch Rider and Cam waltz inside the entrance.

Okay, less an actual waltz and more a slow step of hesitant minds and carefully applying stick-on name badges.

You find it odd that Rider went with 'Mordred' on it, despite the insistence to the otherwise... months ago? Weeks ago? However long ago that was that you first met him and he clarified things.

They're both dressed as casually as can be for a reunion of this type. Sure, they're wearing tuxedo jackets and fancy button down shirts, but... otherwise, jeans and sneakers. No ties. Everyone else here is a careful balance of near the same.

You'd... honestly been planning on spying on the place anyways if General O'neill hadn't told you to 'follow at a distance and keep an eye out for trouble.'

Apparently the SGC tried calling and then the landlines went down. Sam and Jolinar had done some checking and it seemed a tree had fallen and taken out the main phone line leading out of town.

Suspicious, that.

Well, either way, Rider and Cam look like they're both fish out of water at the moment, especially as a woman approaches them and starts talking to Cam.

You squint through the binoculars at her nametag. "Jackie" with a cute little heart topping the "i." How cute.

You check the SHORT RANGE MICROPHONE you, ahhem, borrowed from Sam's Sylladex. (Why does she have spy equipment in her Sylladex? You'll never know for sure.)

Hrm... Jackie with a heart is talking them up about the "Class of 1987" and asking if Rider went to the school... nope, just Cam's teammate from SG-1- Oh, and now she's excitedly asking about THAT.

Honestly, you'd probably have talked instead about the time you were sold as a domestic servant and then killed your owner, that scumbag weapons smuggler FIERENZE. Well, more like FROZENZE now. Hah.

Get it?

Cause you locked him in a meat locker?

...Hurm. Didn't Damara mention something about that relating to Ba'al's future death? You wonder if you'll decide to revisit an old classic or what not.

...Focus, Vala. Focus!!

They head inside the gym now, with Jackie with a heart chatting conversationally with them and-

Wait, what's that?

You spot some movement in the parking lot.

Some guy just got stunned to the ground, and someone else is... running a scanner over them?

Oh, hell no. They just put something to their chest and their appearance turned INTO that poor man!

You radio- "Jack, Sam? We've got company."

* * *

 

"And so you've got, like, eleven different policies that you can buy," GARY goes on about his insurance talk.

You're Cameron Mitchel, and you massage at the bridge of your nose as you listen to one of your former classmates list out exactly how to perform insurance fraud as if it wasn't a big deal and perfectly normal.

God damn it, who knew Gary'd be the guy to go down that road? You sure didn't. What ever happened to the Straight A Soccer Star everyone knew and loved?

Apparently, drawn into that hive of scum and villanny that's known as the INSURANCE FRAUD RACKET.

You really oughta report him to somebody.

You consider getting up from the table to go make that call, but Rider's enthusiastically making notes, and then...

"So, let me get this straight," he starts suddenly. "The idea is to take out policies on people who don't exist... and then... kill them off, to inherit money?"

"Pretty much!" Gary nods.

"...Isn't that Illegal?"

And then everyone else at the table who hadn't so much as noticed suddenly pauses as they consider that, and you decide to sit it out.

* * *

 

 _"AAAND There goes some poor football jock with a sucker punch to the face,_ " Vala reports.

You are Jack O'neill, and you once again gear up for combat.

"Just a sucker punch?" you ask. "Nothing else?"

 _"Yup. Guy's stealing the poor man's clothes now. Oh, hello! That's a very interesting butt tattoo! I wonder who Betty is?"_ Vala's distraction gets interrupted by Sam coughing. _"Uh- right. yes. Sorry. Oh, hold on, I think I recognize this guy who sucker punched the jock. Ody... Odie... Oh!_ **Odai Ventrell!** _...Ah. We.... really oughta do something soon. He's got a reputation for crashing his get-away vehicles into buildings."_

 **"Ah, so the brute type?"** Jolinar remarks. **"Lovely."**

"Just give it a minute," you reply. "We're almost ready."

* * *

 

You are still Cameron Mitchel, and as you refill your cup of punch while Rider thoroughly tears down Gary's Insurance Fraud Scheme with a lot of hefty law codes you're pretty sure he's either making up on the spot or stolen from the days of olden Camelot, your dreaded bane approaches you.

"Nice suit, Cam!" Amy starts.

"Uh, yeah, thanks," you glance at her... wow, that is a dress made up of strings and all sorts of strappy things. "Nice Dress." You think you recognize the brand as something Chixie Roixmr wore on stage during a recent tour... What did she say it was? Dread Shuffle? Something like that.

"Well, if only I could know where to put this," She holds up her name tag. "It just refuses to stick."

"AMY V." it reads, with Hearts surrounding it.... And of course, she hasn't removed the sticky backing yet.

"You, ah, gotta pull the backing first," you say.

"Oh, right," and she does so and places it rather prominently on a red strap dancing across her upper chest from over the heart to around the neck. Because the strap is so small, the sticker ends up getting pressed against her skin.

...Yeah she's probably going to regret that later. Bandaid burn times ten.

"So, where's your, uh... 'plus one'?" Amy asks.

"Currently proving to Gary Walesco why Insurance Fraud isn't cool," you answer honestly, glancing over at the rather growing crowd of people come to see Gary get taken down with what sounds like...

Oh, fuck, is that Jaffa Tax Code now? Man, Rider's really going all out on this.

"...Well, she seems nice," Amy says with a forced laugh. "You two make a good couple."

"...Rider's a guy," you explain. "Also my friend, and teammate." Not that that stopped Cassie and Jude any, but still... Is it in your best interests to maintain this misunderstanding?

"Oh." Amy nods at that, looking a bit confused, and also, shell shocked. "I didn't realize... Either of you... uh... were... I..." and then she hangs her head. "Oh God, I must sound awful right now, Cam."

"Little bit," you say. "But atleast you're not throwing an entire bowl of punch in my face for saying i was going into the military instead of college."

Wait, shit. There's a punch bowl right next to you-

"Er... yeah, sorry about that," she says.

What? She's SORRY about that? Unbelievable. You thought she was over her obsession when she told you she'd 'never forgive you.'

"So, uh... where's your other half?" You ask. "I heard you got hitched."

"Ted is in Maui with his secret girlfriend, probably," Amy snorted in distaste. "He thinks I doesn't know yet. I do. Business Trip my ass. I'm filing for divorce just as soon as the PI I hired gets enough evidence her violated our PreNup."

...Aaand there's the other reason you've avoided her.

In another world, another time, if she'd stayed that sweet kind girl you'd grown up with... you might be tempted to try and start something here. ...But no. Something happened in Highschool in this timeline, something you never learned about. She grew... bitter. Sour, somehow. Hound-doggedly stubbornly locked her eyes onto you.

Something that set her eyes on you instead of Ted Granger for most of High School, up until you told her you were going to the Air Force, and she threw a punch bowl in your face, and then went and shacked up with Ted that same night.

You thought that was the end of it. That she'd finally changed targets and moved on from you.

She hired some amateur journalist to be a fucking PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR to background check you within a week of Highschool Starting. Kid ended up ratting her out to you instead.  If there's one thing that suddenly sets any potential attraction into revulsion, it's finding out she sent someone to spy on you to do who knows the fuck what with that information.

And she's still doing it, it sounds like.

She went and learned things about your schedule and your life and tried to integrate herself into your every day existence. Some people were jealous, said you were LUCKY that you had someone that dedicately interested in you.

It might've been sweet.

Might've.

It could have been great, even, in another world where you were both mutually interested...

Could have.

But considering the way she turned down everyone else, who wasn't you, who asked her out during the whole highschool experience... And the way she then went and started harassing anybody who showed any interest in YOU during that same time... Amy broke a lot of hearts during Highschool. And she just...

Sometimes, things change far and away outside of your control, or anyone's control, for that matter.

Anything would have been better than that. She could've had any guy who asked her, and you... you could have had any girl who'd asked too. You could have been the one pining after her while she went to date everyone else and...

...And honestly you'd never have taken the plunge, in all likelihood.

In the end you'd isolated yourself just to spare other people the harm of Amy's obsession here. If the tables were reversed and you were the one obsessing over her?

You'd have just let her get away and moved on after.

And then your cellphone rings.

"Sorry, I've got to take this," you say, and excuse yourself to a quiet corner of the room. "Go for Mitchel."

 _"Cam, we've got a couple of baddies infiltrating the school,"_ Jack says, full General voice breaking up a little due to the poor cell reception in the area, but otherwise coming through clear. _"Get Rider and move for the exit. They're disguised. Don't trust anyone."_

Shit.

"Roger that, Pa," you answer, seeing as Amy's somehow followed you from the punch table and is now on your other side. How'd she manage that?  "I'll get Mordred and get to the shop asap for Ma's medicine. See you soon."

There's a glint in Amy's eyes.

More so than it was years ago.

Wait.

Her dress is wrong. When did she learn to quick change?

You glance back at the Punch Table.

Amy's still there, in the dress she was wearing originally.

You look back at the Amy standing near you.

"Amy" grins.

"Aw crap," you swear, and then run for the real Amy. _"AMY!!! YOUR EVIL TWIN SISTER IS HERE!!"_

Everyone turns to look.

Not!Amy takes a sharp knife out from the leg sheath, and screeches like a banshee.

The REAL Amy glares at the bitch wearing her face, and yells- "YOU!!! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO RUINED MY CHANCES WITH CAM, AREN'T YOU!?" And then SHE grabs the punch bowl and hurls it at the decidedly Not!Amy.

The punch bowl shatters like fake glass, and Not!Amy doesn't even get a scratch on her face from the attack. And then two guys burst in from the locker rooms, Phil and some dude you've never seen before.

Just like that, the reunion shatters into panic, and it's goddamned bedlam in here!!

You run for Rider, and regroup.

"What the hell!?" he asks.

"Baddies!" you answer.

Next you look back, Amy and Not Amy are now tussling on the ground, and Unknown Dude punches Phil in the chest and off goes something that reverts "Phil" into somebody else entirely.

Not Phil Too!!

That's when you hear something very loud landing on the rooftop of the gym.

"Oh what now!?" you ask.

* * *

 

"...Sam?"

"Yeah, Jack?"

"Is it just me or did a Tel'tak Cargoship just *Land* on the roof of the Highschool Gym?"

"...It did."

"And is it ALSO me or is there a fucking Al'kesh moving into position above them, locking their weapons onto the place?"

"There is."

"...Remind me WHERE the Odyssey is right now?"

"...P3Y-229."

"...Why did we do THAT for?"

* * *

 

"Well, this can't get any worse," you are now Rider, and you wince as your words are immediately proven wrong as a series of Transport Rings BURST through the ceiling, descending to the floor, and beam down a small contingent of Lucian Alliance soldiers into position.

"ATTENTION!" Yells their leader, A woman in leathers, while aiming her gun at the ceiling and powering on a loud, thrumming chime from within its now glowing barrel. "EVERYBODY STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING RIGHT THE FUCK NOW AND HIT THE FLOOR!"

Everyone goes silent, except for Not!Amy, who shrieks a robotic scream as Amy violently beheads her evil twin and throws the sparking robotic skull to the ground like she's spiking a football.

"...Okay, you I like," Leathers woman says. "I might ask you about recruitment later. But for now. ON THE FLOOR!"

Amy wisely gets onto the floor.

NotPhil throws his assailant to the floor and charges Leathers Woman.

She shoots him in the chest, and NotPhil goes flying backwards across the room into a nearby wall.

"What did I say?" Leathers Woman demands. "FLOOR. NOW."

Everyone, even the unknown dude NotPhil was tussling with, gets to the floor.

"Now!" Leathers Woman says. "Where are Vala Mal Doran, Cameron Mitchel, and 'Rider'? Please stand up if you're present."

Mitchel glances at you.

You nod, and then you both stand.

"Lovely, step over here, please," Leathers woman says. "Make it snappy, and tell me: Where's the rest of your people?"

"Vala's out on the town," you answer. "Jude and Cassie are on vacation. And... I dunno, Jonas is library hopping Jaffa worlds?"

"Jonas Quinn should be dead now," Leathers woman smiles. "I blasted him and Teal'c as they went for the gate, and the Jaffa announced that Quinn died of injuries he suffered in my strafing run."

...Somehow, you doubt that.

"Well, damn." Mitchel doesn't sound like he buys it either. "Guess we'll have to get another linguist. Wonder if Doctor Jackson'd be up for returning?"

"They'll need more than a new linguist when I'm done with you all," Leathers woman says.

"You fool!" unknown dude calls out. "The Bounty for Dead Bodies is identifiable remains!"  
  
"Ah, Ventrell," Leathers smiles. "I take it you're here to collect them alive? Hm? Foolish endeavors, that."

'Ventrell' snarls, attempting to say something else, when the school intercom buzzes.

_**"This is General Jack O'neill. Release the hostages now, and SG-1 will beam in."** _

"See?" Leathers smiles. "They already got my demands when I sent an envoy to message the SGC the moment I landed my ship. They know that if they don't give me SG-1 now, I'll kill this entire room of people." She then takes to her wrist radio, and transmits: "No go. You beam SG-1 in first, unarmed, and THEN I'll release the hostages. That is what my demands are, and you should know that  unless my courier fumbled it."

 _ **"Fumbled it. Right,"**_ General O'neill pauses. _**"Yeah, that would happen when they come stumbling in covered in knife wounds."**_

Leathers' smile sours to a frown. "Damn, I should've known better to send them alone. Oh well. You know the demands. Make them happen. And, beam them in right where we're standing too, why don't you? Less walking for everyone."

 _ **"Alright,"**_ O'neill says. **_"They're beaming in now."_**

**_VVVOOOOORRRRMMMMM-SHING!_ **

And then Jude, Cassandra, and Vala beam into the room right next to you. Most people don't react, because this tech's been shown on TV a few dozen times by now already. A few still gasp in surprise.

Mitchel being one of them. Why's that? Shouldn't it-

Wait.

Oh.

The Odyssey isn't here. None of the Megaships are in orbit either.

Fuck, how did they manage That?

"Good, good," Leathers smiles again. "Now then, Ventrell, you're welcome to join us if you want... otherwise..."

"Screw off!" Ventrell snaps.

"Shame," Leathers snaps her gun at him and fires off a shot, plowing him into the wall just like NotPhil.

And then she activates her wrist device and the Rings activate again.

That's when things get funky.

Because Jude, Cassie, and Vala suddenly AREN'T at your sides anymore, and suddenly ARE on the other side of the rings, with Jonas and Teal'c at their sides, all of them aiming zats into the rings.

Leathers and her men get stunned before they even realize what happened.

Jonas then heads over to a CAMERA and waves at it. "It's okay, you're all safe now. General O'neill will be in to check on you all momentarily."

You glance to Mitchel, he glances back at you, and then you both decide to ask:

"What the fuck just happened?"

* * *

 

"It seems almost every bounty hunter seeking our prize has been defeated by SG-1."

"How unfortunate."

"Yes, there's-"

_**BANG! BOOM!** _

A Ha'tak's halways shook, and Damara Megido entered a conference room.

"Who the hell are you!?"

"I'm the last woman you'll ever see."

"That's- Wait. What was that you just sai-" _**SHCLICK!**_ "GRJK!"

**"WITCH!"**

_**"RUN FOR IT!"** _

And thus Damara Megido brutally finished the decapitation of the current heads of the Lucian Alliance before going about her final shopping spree.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: AUGUST 1ST, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 02/09/0006.**

"Thank you," your name is Jude Harley, and you smile as you accept a large glass of tea from Wendy Mitchel.

"You're most welcome, dear," she smiles in turn. "Now, where were we?"

"Right," Cassie smiles as she shifts Penny in her lap a bit to be more comfortable. "Well, after we subdued the sniper, that was when Teal'c and Jonas showed up with their Al'kesh. We quickly flew to where we knew the rest of the team was, and we got there just in time to find another Al'kesh moving into position over the highschool."

"We stayed cloaked, ringed over, and took control of the ship," you take over. "Then, when we saw the Cargo ship had basically emptied its entire crew into the Highschool, Cassie and I went to secure it while Jonas got Sam and Jack in on the plan."

"That sounds exciting!" Frank Mitchel laughs.

"Indeed it was," Teal'c nods his head in agreement. "We had a short window of time to prepare."

"We had a prototype of miniaturized Asgard Hologram Technology with us," Cassie picks up from there. "So we used that to fake beaming in, get in position, and stun 'em. After that, it was all cleanup."

"You'd do anything for your team, wouldn't you?" Wendy asks.

"Yeah," Cassie nods. "We're trying our best to be everyone's support group. No one person shoulders the load, and we're all there for eachother when we need to be."

And then Cam re-enters the house, Rider at his side, both carrying with them several large stacks of pizzas.

Food delivered, the conversation shifts to other topics.

"So... did Amy really rip her own robotic duplicate's head off?" Vala asked about five minutes into the meal.

"Yeah," Cam grimaces. "That was... such a dodged bullet."

"Marriage always is," Vala says.

"Speaking of," Jonas starts, "I've been meaning to ask. I came across quite a few aliases for you onboard that Al'kesh, and some of them seemed pretty legal. How many times have you been Married exactly?"

"Legally?" Vala asked. "Hmmm... that's hard to keep track. Let's see. The first one was a part of a band of traveling entertainers. He was a good cook, too. Couldn't make pie though..."

Before she could get much further though, Jonas raised a hand and said, "Sorry I asked. Can we talk about something else?"

"SURE!" Vala chipperly changed the subject. "So how DID the Lucian Alliance find us in the first place?"

"Oh, that scanning thing they ran over us in the cargo ship?" Jonas answered. "They scanned for the transponder frequencies we use for our subcutaneous transmitters for Asgard beaming."

"Oh. Well... That's just cheating! Using our own tech against us," Vala complained.

"Yeah, we're going to have to update the frequencies and passcodes now," you sighed. "Work work work."

And then Jack and Sam returned from the kitchen where the house phone was, with grim expressions on their face.

"What now?" Rider asked. "What's going on now?"

And thus, Sam answered: "Trouble in Corinth City."

"We gotta go," Jack said, "Now."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. HERE'S a brick I threw forwards into the future waaaaaaaaaay back when I wrote the adaptation of 1969 waaaaaaaaay back in Act 2. Finally landed, it did. Hehehe.
> 
> I've been sitting on this change/reveal that Cam's parents were the hippies SG-1 teamed up with then for SO LONG. you wouldn't even believe it. Just. MAN. It was one of the first real changes I set up for this universe/timeline. And HERE'S THE PAY OFF!! :D
> 
> Aaaaah. Man. It felt good to get this one done. I wasn't sure if I'd ever get to this point. 
> 
> I don't even know what was up with Robo-Amy. Was that Venjix or Damara doing shit? Hell, I have no idea. I just wanted to do something SO WILD AND UNPREDICTABLE there with her. 
> 
> ...
> 
> ...
> 
> Huh? Damara? Oh, don't mind her, she's just rehearsing for her big performance right now. You'll get to see it with the next chapter. Now, on that note, I'm hungry and I crave some pizza! So, I shall go make myself some pizza.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoyed the wild ride that was this chapter!!


	45. SG1:10X19: An Anachronistic Reprise of A Resonance Cascade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> *Emergency Alert System Siren Noises*  
> Heh. Now that that has your attention, I request that you Please pay careful attention to the events about to transpire.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As a reminder, you don't *HAVE* to attempt to synchronize the music to the actions happening within the text later in this chapter. It's just a fun little bonus if you can pull it off.

**EARTH DATE: AUGUST 2ND, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 02/10/0006.**

The Stargate on P3Y-229 activated, and SG-1 emerged from the gate, armed to the teeth and ready to fight...

Except there was nothing for them to fight, just yet.

They hurried through the paths laid out to the remains of Venjix Palace, and headed for the Rift to Corinth City.

They went through the rift, and emerged into the city.

The Shield had been raised, and large flying beasts rammed into it from outside.

"Oh thank goodness you're here," Callie Ohphee greeted them out of the rift. "These dreadful creatures came out of nowhere and started attacking the city. We barely got the shield raised before the fliers came in."

"How long has this been going on?" Cameron Mitchel asked.

"Since about midnight two nights ago. We've been able to repulse their previous attacks so far, but all of a sudden they just abruptly all began swarming the City at once," Callie answered. "We think they're mainly a mutation of local wildlife that were already mutating wildly due to Zillyum and Nanomachines, but we're not sure what brought these changes on or why they're attacking like this."

I know what brought those changes on, and I know why they're attacking.

I had my agent come in and make those changes, after all. I needed SG-1 to come, I needed them to bring Excaliber with them. My agent needs her sword for this final fight.

Watching through a tiny rift in space time, I couldn't help but feel... Excitement.

SG-1 was here. They had taken my invitation and come to the stage show without hesitation. Sure, it had taken them a solid day to get back to the SGC to gate here, however... They made it.

My guests were all here in the audience rows...

Time to begin the show.

I turned to Venjix, I gave him the order, and we dimensionally shifted the Mirrorgate out of its hiding place, drawing upon the weakness in the dimensional fabric here in this portion of reality to pierce the veil, and manifest my Gateway in two places at the same time.

The skies tore open above P3Y-229 and Corinth City at the same time, and the rift on both planets flared brightly as it tore upwards, upwards, upwards, reaching higher and higher until it met the new rift I had made, and together, the two began to widen, and widen.

I gave the command, and Venjix activated the Mirrorgate.

I watched as SG-1 peered upwards in horror. I watched as Corinth City's monsters stopped their siege, and peered upwards in awe. I watched as two worlds' worth of scientists and citizens stared as I ripped space-time asunder.

And I watched as my other Agent emerged from P3Y-229's Stargate, exiting Camelot and making his way towards the place I had designated.

The Ha'taks and the Odyssey over P3Y-229 began to shift their positions from passive observation to cautious defense.

I couldn't help but smile.

The walls between dimensions are thin here.

In another world line, possibly even several parallel alternate world lines, a certain version of SG-1 used the blackhole that usually manifested here to punch their way into another Universe.

My goal was much the same, and I was using the path that had been hard carved through this very spot regardless of the planet's currently whole status, and the lack of a Black Hole.

After all, when something happens enough times across the Multiverse, its echoes happen again and again and again, even in the worlds where it shouldn't have any reason to have happened.

I'd lucked out, when I followed SG-1's path through the Multiverse, discovering that other Earth that had been tunneled to. I'd lucked out learning about it.  
I'd lucked out, and it'd given me this idea in the first place.

"Venjix," I demanded seconds after the rifts had connected. "Begin the Dialing Sequence."

And my little pet did so.

The same events. A Giant ring appeared above this planet. A giant ring appeared above desolated versions of Earth or Alternia. Supergates, sure, but the visual imagery is the same.

My Mirrorgate began to light up, and I smiled.

Soon, it would be over.

Soon, English would be thoroughly contained within a single vessel mere moments before his demise.

I Would Have My Freedom.

The Ring begins to light up as it always does in most other realities. Chevrons locking as is thematically bound to this reality. And peering through the rift from P3Y-229, the Earth peeking through seemed to ripple and distort. From Earth, the same to P3Y-229.

Static began to flare within that rift as the Mirrorgate drew power.

I owed a small chunk of inspiration for this plan to Elwurd as well. Her simplistic desire to use a Mirror to let her Ship jump between dimensions like one jumped between planets using Hyperspace.

There was one key difference, however, to my plan versus what you might suspect.

Supergates Dialed, yes... Elwurd's plan would have her traveling to specific dimensions as well... but I did not have a destination.

The dialing sequence was just for show.

The chevrons locking was just for show.

Just by inserting the Gate and drawing power from the rift, I had already done everything I needed to do.

All of this was for suspense.

All of this was for drama.

All of this was my stage show being played out for them.

I have been called the Wtich of Time. But. I consider myself in this moment to be more of a Magician.

It's all about drama. The art of the misdirect. The sheer fact that I am narrating this very moment in the First Perspective rather than in the traditional Second....

Have I deceived you to some degree, when I've used it? You should have realized it wasn't that simple considering I'd also originally refused to be bound to it.

There are others who think themselves the grand storytellers of this long and intricate tale.

Am I one of them?

Let me tell you a story.

The dawn of the Ninja, according to some versions of Earth's history, arose during a play. You see, before men in green suits on movie sets blended into the later-edited-in background, the human mind was trained to ignore those dressed in black.

And so stagehands wore black, and they worked plays, and they danced in the background moving props as the story demanded, but they were to be seen but ignored. The black cloth made them 'invisible.'

It was a magic spell, almost. Shadows of the Night, dancing to the tune of the story as the director weaved it, as the writer crafted it, as the actors ignored it while simultaneously dancing to its tune.

And then in one play, all of a sudden, a major character was suddenly murdered by one of these shadows. The Characters within the Story had no clue how such a murder could ever possibly happen. The Audience was shocked by this turn of events.

The Servant had suddenly become the Playwright.

I asked of you if it was worth it.

I asked myself if it was worth it.

As the Mirrorgate warped, and began to surge forth in twin directions with a massive, silver-hued KAWOOOSH of energy....

Time froze.

And the story suddenly held no meaning as I stole the Keyboard from its writer.

I am the shadow that grew envious of the control over the narrative, and decided that, just for a day. Just for a single, solitary day, I would hijack its control to do what I wanted.

To make my dreams come true.

_My name is Damara Megido._

_I am Ninja._

_I am Assassin._

And I will gladly sunder control of the keyboard back to its author the moment I have done as I wished.

Cue the theme song.

* * *

 

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw)

* * *

 

I have never truly had a chance to demand my fate before. Not in this reality. Not in many others, either.

The same echoes, time and time again, afflicting me so badly.

I am certifiably insane in some of these worlds. Others, so traumatized that I turn to childish stereotypes to make people distrust me so I will never be hurt by them.

There are a scant few where I receive a decent fate, let alone one of my own design. Maybe I've not looked enough.

I dare say I've looked at too many, though.

In many of the worlds where I've been defiled by English, he is done in. So frequently, do I see him defeated by his own ambitions eventually defeating him.

But they are not _My English._

They are not **MY DEFILER**.

**_NOT MY TORMENTOR._ **

They will get what is coming to them by their own hands or others, I have no doubt. But they will end.

And they are inconsequential to my own personal journey here.

He forced me to chase that Bracelet twice. I tried. And I Tried. Twice, i died.

And now given this fresh chance at life, I find that it is my sacred duty to pay him back for that defilement.

There are splinters of his core essence within the branches of this reality, and I will remove those splinters, and shove them all into the singular box that has already been destroyed.

You see, I control Time. But time is a finicky thing. After all... Time holds only the barest of scant meanings between alternate dimensions. There are points of contact, and they may cross over repeatedly, but... more often than not, they are not sharing the same linear plane of time.

For example, that doomed reality where Alternia had its Moons destroyed by the Supergate Kawoosh, that Joey and her friends went to, where Joey found herself, dead, and rescued her soul and then later gave herself a new body.

From this reality's perspective, that trip took less than a minute.

From that reality's perspective, it took hours.

And that Reality is that which I focus on first.

I direct Clarent to one of those battlefields, either the Earth or the Alternia I care not which. A Planet appears with a Supergate above it, and I find ENGLISH.

I charge Clarent, and I snap open a tear in reality- it tears before me into this harsh white plane of nothing with a flare of black and bright blue, stretching upwards like a zipper being pulled, and then...

I clear my throat.

English turns to face me, confused. As he should be. There is a me at his side already as it were.

"Clarent Heart," I intone, simply, and swing the blade.

Lord English Vaporizes, and his soul drifts through the tear I created, and settles within the Sangraal as I close the rift shut, and the other me fails to cross over in time.

One down. Not even the Narrator knows how many alternates to go.

* * *

 

Time holds no meaning, as I've said. I went through three more assaults of a similar nature, just targeting all the possible permutations of that one time line before the Odyssey came hurtling towards me. But it was minutes for me, and hours for them.

I tore open another rift, and the Odyssey traveled through it before they could get anywhere near me.

They would come back later when it suited me the most.

Ah, but I missed the F-302 that launched from its bays early, and began screaming towards me from a different direction.

I glanced at it, and saw Cameron Mitchel was piloting it. I parse at his thoughts.

 _"Your name is Cameron Mitchel, and you're going to save the day. Just like you did with the exploding Stargate. Just like you did at Antarctica--"_ Oh.

The void within the Mirrorgate reacted to his own thoughts, drawing upon the echoes of repeated fates again and again.

Oh, you fool.

The very CONCEPT of the fight over Antarctica appeared, sucking the man's 302 within to send him through a fate averted in this reality... this one, but not others.

You poor, sorry fool. You know not what you've done.

He came passing through another rift far below me seconds later- the man-made glider crashing down into a suddenly appearing snowdrift within the streets of Corinth City. His teammates went to rescue him from the crash.

Time holds no meaning here. But as I've said, things keep happening. And Cameron Mitchel is always fated to crash an F-302, it seems.

Some worlds, he does not recover. Most worlds, he does.

...If I have it in mind, I'll fix his injuries before closing this rift.

I get back to work.

* * *

 

As I finish slaying the tenth Lord English tied to the Aincrad Timeline varriants, I pause as I sense something within the void around me.

Someone is tugging on a sympathetic bond tied to one of my servants.

Hal Strider.

Someone is trying to tug a line of destiny related to Hal Strider.

Troublesome. I send a rebuttal through that line.

**[THIS. ONE. IS. MINE. Leave him be, interloper.]**

The tug returns in fierce annoyance, as well as intimidation?

_**[Like HELL that one's yours. That ones MINE.]** _

I tear open a rift, grab the Eleventh Lord English of Aincrad Varriant Timelines, and shatter his soul from his body- making great care to take the pain English feels and send it back along that sympathetic bond to the one trying to follow it.

**[I have Important Work to finish. LEAVE. HIM. BE.]**

The one on the other end recoils, and lets the line go slack again.

Good.

* * *

 

I spare a glance back to Cameron Mitchel. They've moved him to somewhere in Corinth City- the Ranger's Base, I believe.

Ah, yes, those injuries are something terrible.

I spare a thought to have the rift draw more favorably from the timelines where he recovers than not.

He doesn't deserve to have brought this upon himself. I was going to spare him that pain as well.

He already avoided that fate here, after all. He shouldn't be punished for avoiding it.

_[what are you doing?]_

Oh, hello, there's a new voice adding itself to the mix now.

It seems I've drawn the attention of some other narrator types.

 **[Me? I'm just...]** I clean up another Lord English. **[Cleaning Up a Mess.]**

_[you over step your bounds. those are not your realities to meddle with.]_

**[Do you know who I even am?]** I ask, curious. **[What this monster has done to me, time and time again?]**

_[you over step your bounds. stop before you draw the wrong attention. before the prince realizes that you are there.]_

**[I have other Princes in other Castles who already think themselves gods,]** I counter that thought. Ford is a pain. I glance at a window into Atlantis, where English is rampaging, and I quickly snuff that English out cold. An Aiden Ford who'd tumbled from a wheelchair peers upwards from the rift with a glimmer of a spark of black light within his one eye. **[And THEY know to stay in their lane.]**

_[you threaten the very fabric of your reality with this foolish crusade]_

**[No. You know what threatens it?]** I send the impression of every Lord English I've slain down the connection back at whoever's talking to me. **[HE DOES. And I'm only targeting the realities that branch from mine. If you are really so high and mighty to come from one of them and think I am not doing them a service, then I challenge you to come and face me yourself. Otherwise, if you come from a world that isn't a branch of mine. I invite you to FUCK. OFF.]**

And then, I slay another English that survived to attack an Atlantis.

_[you are an usurper. just as the prince is. if you do not stop this foolishness, i will have to intervene]_

**[Go right ahead and try, then, whoever the fuck you are.]**

They have no reply.

Really, who invited all of these weirdos to meddle with my clean up party?

* * *

 

I've started in on the other various doomed realities that branched off from this span of events when I feel a tug from that bond with Hal again.

_**[Hi, not to bother you or anything but I feel I should warn you that someone who's been hounding my ass for ages now seems to have taken a... rather keen interest in what you're doing.]** _

I pause my work for an eternity/second, and reply, **[Oh? Would you be the 'prince' that last spirit was talking about?]**

 _ **[I am a Prince, yes. I'm also someone similar to you in the regard of running a narrative. Though... I at least waited until mine was over with before taking it over. Pretty ambitious of you to take it over in the middle of the final stretch of its run, I gotta say. Can't see much else about what you're doing, though, or too much about the reality you're from, but killing Lord Englishes? Damn, that's pretty impressive.]** _A pause. _**[Also, I don't know how you're blocking me from seeing the memories in the me you've got observing this from the semi-outside, but good job on that too. You're pretty skilled for a newbie writer.]**_

 **[Unless you're going somewhere with this, I'd recommend you let me get back to my work sooner rather than later.]** I tell this 'Prince.' **[I do have a limited window of time to be working on this problem.]**

_**[Long and short of it is, Damara Megido, you've got gumption for a- and correct me if I'm wrong here- mortal girl without even butterfly wings on your back.]** _

**[And?]**

_**[And I'm saying if you ever decide to take it to the next level, I'm glad to offer pointers as long as you don't come after me with the same vengeance boner you've got for English.]** _

**[I'll keep that in mind. Don't come after me, and I won't come after you.]**

_**[You've got a deal. Good luck with the spring cleaning, O Maid.]** _

**[It's Assassin, but thanks.]**

And then he lets me be and I get back to work.

I've only got a few more left to do when a Ha'tak appears.

I check it...

No, not Lucian Alliance, not Jaffa, not Tok'ra... Ah? Ba'al? Lovely timing. I was wondering if that snake would show up at any point.

How many hours has it been, real time? How many seconds? Minutes?

Does it matter?

I deploy the Odyssey again, and turn them on Ba'al's Ha'tak.

Now here is a Prince I must obliterate.

I'm about to open a rift into the ship to grab Ba'al from within when the Prince from before suddenly says- _**[Hi, sorry for messaging you again within what's probably going to be pretty damn soon for you but is a pretty long period of time for me, but, On Your Left!]**_

I glance to my left, and watch as a rift suddenly opens up with the same zipper tear motion, and I can see a planet with two dueling spaceships over it. There's an army of robots fighting off what seem to be alternate versions of people from this reality.

_[you!]_

Oh, it's *THEM* again.

There's a flicker of energy, and standing on the other side of the rift is suddenly a girl who looks like Jade Harley save for several key differences.

She is teen-aged. Her skin is a deathly pale color, heavily discolored green. Her eyes are pitch black voids. There is a massive stab wound within the chest area of the tattered, black hued dress. She is missing her shoes, as well as her socks.

But she still has the glasses, she still has the wild mane of hair, she still has the dog ears, and a vaguely similar facial structure... but it is off in some way. Like she came from a different genetic origin entirely.

Or it could be whatever the hell spirit is possessing her body.

Because that is a thing I can tell. That spirit inhabits that corpse like Anubises tend to inhabit shells and bodies, having slowly modified it to its own whims.

I can also tell that that spirit's reality- the one they're in currently and peering through into mine- is not a branch of my reality at all.

Oh!!

That's interesting. With that meta data available to me, I was able to view something special by comparing and contrasting it with my reality.

It looks like the entire Multiverse Cluster my reality is at the root of is designated a Nexus! How about that? And what's more. Here's something special and interesting...

I'm able to view things that I'm being told I wouldn't be able to view otherwise outside of these specific circumstances. Ohhohoh...

That's interesting and so very intrigu-

 _[stop this at once stop what you are doing and stop ignoring me!]_ NotJade exclaims, and crosses the line between their timeline and into my domain.

I feel her attempting to usurp my control of the narrative once more...

But there's one thing she fails to realize here.

The core meta behind this reality itself rejects her demand for control outside of even my own prompting.

This Reality REJECTS her demands to control it, and in doing so, it shuts the rift closed behind her.

_[what?]_

"I'm sorry," I say, "But You Cannot Perform That Action."

And then NotJade howls with rage.

_[you are no better than the prince! usurper! defilier! you have no idea what powers youre meddling with here! you cannot deny me! you cannot deny me i am more powerful than a mere witch like you! i am more powerful than even the prince! you cannot! you cannot deny my will! i refuse! i refuse to be treated that way and-]_

Good grief, she's annoying, and working herself up into a frenzy...

Ah, I get the feeling I'm going to be very busy very quickly in the next few moments. Too much so to talk.

I realize now that my earlier metaphor of stealing the keyboard was in error.

I believe the case is more rather of the fact that I've apparently asked to borrow it, and been granted that privilege.

Much like the Ninja in the stage show seemed to break out of control of the narrative to kill the character on stage... they were both but actors... Actors who were playing roles in a script written by someone else.

And it is to that someone else that I now let them resume not editorializing events, but chronicling them.

Take it away, Miss Aiikho.

* * *

 

The spirit of some unknown being roared within the body of Jade Harley as they lunged at Damara Megido, angling to cause her bodily harm.

Called to aid their mistress from their two points of observation, Hal Strider and Artoria Pendragon begin their ascent towards aiding their master who was controlling them.

From his place in space above, Venjix hears the call, and he launches several robotic minions down into the rift to aid in the Defense of Damara Megido.

From down below, SG-1, sans Cameron Mitchel, step out of the RPM Rangers Garage, and they peer upwards and upwards into the vast, swirling, twisted nexus point of realities converging on a single spot.

Static and silver energy flash as they spiral around endlessly. And above, they watch as the Corpse Stealer collides with Damara...

And Rider can only ask but one question- "Who the fuck is THAT!?"

A good question indeed.

A question that Doctor Callie Ohphee fears she knows the answer to as she steps out behind them, and stares upwards at the fight just spiraling into the unknown.

She fears then, that it is some twisted, monstrous alternate version of her own soul, taken form.

Dread from years past that forced her to run headlong into a time loop resurfaced then, and Callie stared, clenching her hands together tightly next to her throat, praying that it not be true.

Praying that this other version of Jade, twisted and warped by the spirit possessing her corpse, could be anyone but another version of Callie herself.

Artoria suddenly appeared before SG-1 then, and held out her hand, eyes glowing red.

Nobody said a word.

There was instead a shout of surprise from inside as Excaliber decaptchalogued itself from Cameron's Sylladex, and rocketed out through the building's exits and around anyone's heads so that it did not accidentally harm anyone to return to its master's hand.

Then, Artoria activated it, generating blue and silver armor, and gaining temporary wings as she took to the heavens to join the battle.

"...Let me rephrase," Rider said quietly. **"What the fuck was _THAT_ about?"**

"A cold shoulder if ever I saw one," Vala said in just as quiet of a tone.

They watched as the battle unfolded above, and they witnessed as the Corpse Stealer's powers began warping, twisting the space into an unstable mess. The merest single brush of her thoughts caused the unstable reality above them to become even more unstable, flashing events of days gone by from the last several years.

And so the clock began counting down for what would possibly count as a circumstantially simultaneous time. Counting down to what? Counting down to the very thing the Corpse Stealer had indirectly accused Damara of...

The destruction of this reality.

* * *

 

**>[[S] Cascade Reprise](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ckr6KyZoS58)**

[-13:14]

Simultaneously, as a series of Grinder Robots equipped with rocket backs began a swarming maneuver around The Corpse Stealer, the Odyssey opened fire on Ba'al's Ha'tak.

Ba'al's Ha'tak returned fire, but found itself severely hampered by the fact that the Corpse Stealer was forced to use his ship for cover...

Cover for attempting to open a rift in space time to a specific green sun in a specific dimension- within the Ha'tak itself.

[-12:55]

The tear ripped upwards and outwards and downwards, in all directions, utterly skewering the Ha'tak from end to end.

The aftershocks of the rift opening there and the massive burst of solar energy caused the destruction of Ba'als ship as well as the squad of Grinders with a singular explosion of Green energy, tainting the silver rift around them a menacing green hue.

[-12:38]

The Corpse Stealer glanced around for her target- Damara- but instead came eye to eye with Hal Strider, floating in the air across from her on a Jet Pack of his own.

They snarled at eachother- Hals' eyes behind his shades glowing red with Damara's influence rather than his own.

[-12:30]

They each take up stances- almost in a fluid martial arts way- and then....

Putting their hands together into cupped shapes...

[-12:22]

They gather energy within their hands, forming spheres of Aspect oriented light within their grasp.

[-12:17]

Red and Black in The Corpse Stealer's... Bright Purple and Red in Hal's- each growing in strength-

[-12:14]

\- and size and power as they gathered raw energy from the void around them. They locked eyes, and pulled their hands backwards as the orbs grew too large, and the energy began to escape containment, arcing out like lightning.

Space and Heart, each augmented by Time.

[-12:05]

They hurled beams at eachother, clashing the blasts in the middle between them and sending energy blasting out in all directions at the contact point.

Tears in space time flash open- Trizza and Joey dueling on the Mofang King's ship; contrasting with some alternate version of Meenah Pixies dueling an alternate version of Damara Megido atop an Imperial battle cruiser.

Anubis' Supership launching its laser, and having it rebounded right back at it via a suddenly appearing reflector dish.

As Hal's backpack gets hit by a bolt and he starts to lose altitude, he spots Artoria rising behind The Corpse Stealer's backside, raising Excaliber in an attempt to strike down.

Hal lowers his output, and lets himself be blasted through a suddenly opening rift as The Corpse Stealer suddenly gets assaulted as Artoria rams her.

[-11:42]

Meanwhile, Damara finishes her work, rapidly slaying the last of the Englishes she had to slay, and gathering their spirits within the Sangraal in Clarent.

She knew she only had so much time left to work with, and so opened two last rifts of her own. One locked onto Alternia, the other a small desert planet orbiting a dying star.

On that planet was a Cherub, young, and soon to have one half predominate over the other.

Damara reached out, grabbing his body, and lifting it up close to her tear. The Cherub was frightened, unsure as to what he was seeing...

And then Damara ripped out the soul of his other half- leaving only its memories behind in the body's brain.

She flung that green hued soul through to Alternia, and rapidly shoved the mass of Lord English souls into their place in that Cherub's body- where they merged with their core essence of a soul already present.

Red spirals flashed on the cheeks to full red circles, and Damara threw the boy back to where he came from, and sealed that rift.

[-11:11]

Damara turned to look where she'd carelessly hurtled that soul, and watched as a young Alternian grub with a lime hued body and glistening white hair was picked up by a wolf-lusus as her charge.

Damara fast forwarded the rift- watching as the girl aged, and became THE MUSE of the Rebellion, completely unaware of the fate she'd been spared in another life thanks to the entirely accidental reincarnation.

Damara went to close the rift, but hesitated as she spotted the Administration Crystal through its view- held firmly by a certain Arai Beetle Polyarch as Joey Claire stepped forwards to take lessons to learn how to use it.

Could she... did she even dare to...?

Damara was forced to turn away as she heard Artoria yell, and felt her connection to her servant fade rapidly.

[-10:46]

The Corpse Stealer had gotten her own version of the sword Caliburn from somewhere, and had ran it through Artoria's chest.

With a firm kick, the Corpse Stealer dislodged Artoria's body from the blade, and she fell, fell, fell, down to Corinth below like a meteor heading towards its final reckoning.

[-10:39]

Damara breathed heavily.

[-10:36]

And then she RAGED, because that was no how she intended Artoria's fate at all.

Clarent Ignited, and Damara threw herself at the dastardly interloper who just couldn't leave well enough alone.

And The Corpse Stealer hesitated, because suddenly, she realized... Damara wasn't in control of the Narative any longer. She had GIVEN IT UP to someone else.

[-10:27]

And The Corpse Stealer RAGED, swung her bloodied blade to meet it.

And thus did Clarent and Caliburn clash impossibly.

[-10:20]

Down below, Rider could only watch in horror as Artorias body fell, fell, and then came hurtling down into Corinth City with a mighty CRASH.

[-10:10]

As the ground shook from impact, Rider took off at a run, and Jude and Cassandra were right behind him.

They ran, and ran, even as above, Damara and the Corpse Stealer did clash- their blows sending shockwaves through space and time around them.

[-10:01]

More tears opened. Flashes of eight planets with tall towers reaching towards a blue orb.

Flashes of Alternia's moons crashing into the planet's crust.

Flashes of a boy being stabbed through with a sword- and then years later, the man about to be bitten into by Lord English- is venomous teeth about to pierce into the soft flesh, only for one of Clarent's stray Hope Blasts to pierce through the rift and smash into the battle, dislodging the Heir of Breath and allowing him the chance to safely escape a grisly death.

[-09:48]

That one made the Corpse Stealer rage even further, and then wince as her own personal timeline was edited in some unsubtle way.

Damara wasted no time in trying to press an advantage.

[-09:40]

More rifts from their clashes opened, Anubis blasting the System Lord Yu to death. Atleast three different timelines where the Dakara weapon went off to utterly destroy the Milky Way Galaxy's Replicator problem.

[-09:27]

And then one big rift opens, behind the Corpse Stealer specifically, and Damara sees an opportunity through it- Artoria rising to fight once more from Corinth City donning new crimson armor- and she shoves herself and the Corpse Stealer through it, minutes into the relative future.

[-09:20]

The corpse Stealer refuses to go down without a fight, but finds herself unable to stand against the sudden pull of gravity through that rift itself.

[-09:16]

They go through, and that rift closes... only for the rift of that green sun that the Corpse Stealer had opened earlier to suddenly start to transform into a grisly black hole.

[-09:08]

Our point of view then jolts back down to Corinth City to follow that one narrative lead to its presumed conclusion. We find Artoria lying in a crater, detransformed, and Excaliber lying off to the side nearby.

[-08:48]

There is no red glint in Artoria's eyes as Rider skids to a halt and kneels next to his biological mother.

"Mo...Mordred? What... what happened?" Artoria asked, staring weakly up at Rider. "I... The last I remember... I... we were fighting... a ghost..."

"D-Don't worry about that now!" Rider tries to tell Artoria. "Just let me help you..."

"It hurts," Artoria winces. "Did... did we lose?"

"No, not yet!" Rider says, tears brimming in his eyes. "We haven't lost yet! Just stay with me! Don't worry about that!"

"I... I don't think I can..." Artoria says, coughing up some blood. "I think... I'm out of time...."

"You can't die on me!" Rider cries. "We've got so much to catch up on!"

"I love you so much..." Artoria reaches a hand up to Mordred's cheek- weakly attempting to brush tears out of his eyes. "I just... wish I could have... been a better parent..."

"You did what you had to!" Rider shakes his head, grabbing Artoria's hand with his own. "You- you can still be a better parent! Please just stay with me! Please!!! **_MOM!!!!"_**

"I'm sorry..." Artoria smiles. "Avalon awaits me... Mordred... My Little Saber..."

_"Mom... Mom...!"_

"Live. For me..." And then... Artoria's eyes close, she breathes her last, and her hand goes limp in Rider's hand.

For a moment everything is still.

Rider stands after placing Artoria's hands over her chest, and then turns to look at Jude and Cassie, each looking so sad and afraid over what just happened...

Rider looks down at the sword Excaliber... and he wonders if Merlin's forgivenes... if Artoria's last words...

Would it mean anything now if she acted now?

And then he grabs Excaliber, and golden lightning bursts around him...

[-07:54]

...But it doesn't shock him at all.

Instead, it transforms the SGC BDUs into blue and silver armor befitting a knight... and then it shifts the hue of the blue parts into crimson red, and the silver into gleaming gold.

Rider looks to Jude and Cassie, and they nod.

Rider gathers the golden energy into lightning wings on his back and he renames himself with a firm grasp on the holy blade.

Now armed with a proper Sword, a RIDER becomes a SABER once more.

[-07:42]

He flaps the newly granted wings, and ASCENDS towards the heavens with a burst of speed, ascending, ascending, ascending...

Tears fall like rain in a thunder storm from Mordred's eyes, and yet he can see it clearly as a rift opens.

[-07:30]

Damara shoves the Corpse Stealer through the rift, and Mordred roars- engaging the monster who murdered his mother while her wits weren't even with her-

[-07:23]

And they clash infront of the rift leading to a black hole that sucks up so much of everything within its domain.

[-07:15]

Damara meanwhile huffs to catch her breath as far away from that fight as she can. She moves towards the rift that had been focused on Callie Ohphee, and finds it's now centered on _Joey Claire as she cut off Trizza's hand, freeing the Bracelet, and causing it to tumble, tumble..._

And Damara is so tempted to reach out...

_...But it falls as destined into Claire's hands._

[-06:53]

_The Arai Beetles glowed so brightly, and were swarming slowly around Joey Claire in a rate that would have been stunning at normal speeds._

Damara watched _as the crystals from Joey's necklace and the one attached over her heart disconnected and floated upwards to meet the Bracelet and the crystals that had accompanied it on its journey from owner to owner._

 _The Bracelet moved to become whole once more around Joey's left wrist as it split open,_ and Damara hesitated in reaching for it once again.

She glanced over at the fight between Mordred and The Corpse Stealer...

And She hesitated for just a moment...

[-06:06]

And then Damara made her decision.

[-06:03]

_The Bracelet and the Arai Beetles all exploded with RAINBOW HUED LIGHT, and TIME RESUMED ITS FORWARDS MARCH AT FULL SPEED, ever so slightly LOCALLY._

_Rapidly alternating strings of light swirled around Joey- trailing behind the Arai Beetles as they swam in RAPID MOTION._

[-05:46]

Damara rammed into the Corpse Stealer from the side with such ferocity and velocity that Mordred was able to get the upper hand and utterly dislodged Caliburn from the stolen body's grasp, hurtling it through an open rift down towards Earth to once more complete its time loop.

And then with a flare of mint green sun light from that window into the past, they all hesitated at the new status quo.

[-05:30]

Damara looked to Mordred, and Mordred gave her a look that said, 'for now, we fight together, and after, we settle our differences.'

Damara nodded in agreement, not even sparing a glance back at the window showing _Joey spawning Golden Arai Wings from her back, leaping backwards onto a ship, and then yelling the word that set them into motion again:_

_**"GO!"** _

[-05:15]

They rammed forwards at speeds towards the Corpse Stealer, who was dazzled by the stunning, confusing light show from more than five acts in the past, and was quickly put on the defensive once more.

[-05:00]

The battle was visible below only as shadows flickering on the screen of past events. _Joey and Xefros's tiny little Dragonfly flying into a Mofang Ship, securing an Active Stargate, and flying out._

Unaware to them all- the Mirrorgate creating this vortex began to spark and burst into flame in places as its component parts began to buckle under the strain.

_As Joey pulled back with the Captcha Card and threw out the Stargate from it-_

[-04:45]

-Damara and Mordred sent the Corpse Stealer flying with a synchronized double kick

_The Stargate collides with the outer frame of another metallic device just out of sight with a CLANG and time began accelerating on that end much faster._

[-04:27]

Mordred caught a glimpse of what's to come through another rift, and realized this major rift that's about to explode next to a freaking Black Hole in another dimension could cause all kinds of trouble to everyone.

[-04:21]

Damara sees it as well, and gives a silent nod. She will make the sacrifice needed here. It's her mess, and she intends to see it cleaned up.

The Corpse Stealer has no idea what fate is about to befall her, instead focusing on the two opponents across from her as Damara suddenly moves in a rapid circle to behind-

[-04:13]

-And then choke holds her with the flat end of Clarent's blade, suddenly dragging her closer and closer to _the sun whose orange and yellow fire is rapidly turning green as it nears the point of collapse._

Mordred twists the handle of Excaliber, and golden light condenses on its blade.

[-04:00]

No words are said as the sun behind them _goes super nova, and its burning wave of green fire begins to come towards them rapidly, destroying everything caught in its path._

The Rift's point of view tries to back away and escape, _**but even that cannot be done.**_

[-03:43]

Mordred swings- **"EX- _CALIBER!!!"_** \- and the golden blast smashes down upon the Corpse Stealer and Damara both- and then forms a perfect counter blast of energy against the wave of green fucking fire that comes crashing against the rift, and attempting to bleed through.

[-03:28]

_Nobody was aware that as Trizza Tethis dragged her one handed self to Karfin Outpost's Stargate, that this incident of the rift created a small shield that protected the planet's Stargate long enough for the Heiress to escape through the wormhole._

More parts of the Mirrorgate exploded- capacitors burst, the entire frame began to melt down in places, and the Modified Sodan Cloaking devices failed catastrophically.

[-03:11]

The entire swirling vortex of unstable silver energy poured out blinding white light in both directions of the Mirrorgate, consuming Corinth Earth and P3Y-229, washing out normal space time and seeming to overwrite it all, even as a core of golden light shone through, rapidly starting to become overwhelmed by flickers and flashes of super nova green light.

[-02:49]

The green flashes became more, and more, and more, until finally, they overwhelmed the golden entirely, and then were abruptly snuffed out as the rift's stability collapsed and shuttered close.

[-02:35]

For a moment, there was white, and it rapidly faded to black again...

And then with a flicker of golden light at the center of everything...

[-02:30]

In two dimensions, the unstable vortex cracked, revealing the massive Blackhole that in several realities took the place of the Planet P3Y-229.

But there was hope.

There, skirting the edges of the torn space time, was a glowing dot of crimson and gold, draging itself as fast as it could across the edge of the rift from end to end, trying to sew the damned thing shut.

[-02:17]

Nobody could see either planet or any of the ships that were supposed to be on either side- all light and narrative relevance was focused, laser thin on this exact spot where Mordred dragged Excaliber across the ruined rift of space time lest the Blackhole consume everything like the universes most glorified zipper pull.

[-02:05]

But Mordred was not alone.

In his minds eye, on the other side of the rift, he saw Damara, dragging Clarent with the Sangraal inside across her end of the rift.

In his minds eye, he saw his Mother floating next to him, hands on his own as they grabbed Excaliber, and willed it to move in its final act of destined fate.

[-01:54]

Tears flowed from Mordred's eyes, but he did not give up his task. For with every second that passed, reality on both sides of the rift in both dimensions began to reassert itself, with stars and ships fading into view as the rift was dragged closer and closer to closure.

[-01:39]

_"Claim it!! This is your destiny!" Damara's voice taunted._

_"You almost have it, Mordred!" Artoria's voice pushed him on, even as Excaliber cracked._

_"You've got this, Rider!" Mitchel called out, the blade wrenching slightly._

_"Show 'em, New Guy!" Vala as sure to say._

_"Rider!" Jude and Cassie cried out, even as more cracks formed in Excaliber's blade._

_"You can do it!!" Jonas encouraged._

And then with a final crack of the sword's blade-

[-01:13]

\--It was done, with an explosion of golden light, the massive rift shifted back to its blue hue, briefly showing to each version of the Milky Way not a black hole, but the other system's star, gleaming bright with golden light, before the whole rift began shrinking back down to the size it had been before Damara had begun her plan.

[-01:00]

Mordred collapsed down to Corinth City once more, with only Excaliber's handle in one hand, and a slumbering Alternian grub in the other.

SG-1 ran up to his side, all of them, Mitchel included with his ability to walk miraculously restored.

And the all cried over an experience they couldn't even begin to comprehend or put into words.

[-00:48]

And Callie Ohphee stared upwards at the bright blue heavens, a hand over her heart as she suddenly understood why, all those years ago, that Lord English had chosen to taunt HER DREAMS FIRST.

The connection that neither of them had realized... She had been his other half, once upon a time. And the only thing Callie could feel now as Relief at his death.

...Meanwhile, she still felt horrible at the glimpse of what an overpowered, unfeeling monster she could have become if she had let a drive for vengeance and narrative propriety get the better of her.

But... That was a battle that had just been fought and won...

And there was nothing else that could be said or done about how any of this had played out except that the Loops had been Fulfilled where they needed to be filled.

And that was that.

* * *

 

 **EARTH DATE: AUGUST 7TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 02/14/0006.**

You are now Mikari Aiikho, and you stare at the mission report that had been filed by SG-1 regarding everything that they'd seen during Damara's outrageous temporal shenanigans party.

It's been five weeks since you left Atlantis.

Five Weeks.

And This? THIS??? This is the Crazy kind of shit that happens in a span of five weeks?

You're lucky you have so many other years worth of content to get through in your NOVELIZATION of the last few years of insanity.

Good grief, is there no topping this nonsense?

And after all of that. After ALL OF THAT???

Artoria got killed by some malevolent spirit wearing a Dead Jade as a corpse puppet, Hal got banished to who knows where and when, Excaliber got shattered, Clarent is who knows where, and Damara...

Somehow, some fucking how, Damara cheated her karmic death by fire and turned into a GRUB AGAIN.

You have no idea how to deal with any of this right now, and so you think you're going to put it off for quite a long while.

...Atleast it seems that Damara did what she set out to do- stuff every instance of Lord English into a single vessel- even if it DID apparently grab the unwanted attention of... Whoever it was parading around in a Dead Jade Body.

You resolve to make sure that none of THAT little detail gets through to Jade, John, and Argo. They don't need the nightmares.

Fucking...

That's it.

_You need a vacation._

You need a vacation from your enforced vacation away from Atlantis.

Glubbing damn it. You just need a break. A fucking BREAK away from all of this shit.

Just.

Break.

Break time.

That's it.

You fire off a notice to General O'neill, to the Aincrad ruling council, and to your currently designated temporary Second in Command- CHUCK.

You need a break.

You need such a break it isn't even funny.

Fucking Milky Way. Fucking Alternia.

It's telling that in comparison, Pegasus' problems are so UTTERLY MUNDANE you wouldn't even blink an eye, and that the worst of your problems there have come from things inherited from both Galaxies.

You want to go HOME...

But you can't. Not just yet.

So... you're going to go crash on Okurii's couch and then fucking write as many mission reports as you can into novelized versions of those events.

And just...

Vent your frustrations from the world by ensuring that everyone else can understand just how bloody confusing everything got in retrospect.

...Fucking Karfin Outpost. How the hell did THAT manage to come back and surprise bite everyone on the butt?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. That was a thing.
> 
> A very brief tie-in to the Homestuck Epilogues, or... whatever comes *after* them, I suppose. Damara knocked over a shitstorm of multiversal connections there, that's for sure. Geeze, what a mess. Seriously, AltCallie, did you have to come in and try and wreck shit? Just because I let Damara have the reigns for a few minutes to clean up all the Lord Englishes that she could? She didn't even mess with your timeline directly. Seriously. Was your only goal there trying to prevent another Meat!Dirk situation? 
> 
> Yeah. No. You get to be super nova'd for sticking your nose into things and killing off Artoria! Seriously. Was that even necessary?? With the sword that was about to become hers, too? Freaking Meta-authors intruding on other people's stories. Atleast Dirk had the common sense to keep away from a situation he couldn't understand. 
> 
> Damara also had one last chance to take the Bracelet of power... and she turned it down. Good girl, Damara. In the end you chose fixing the problem infront of you over what English had ordered you to do in the first place.
> 
> Mitchel's 302 crash over Antarctica seems to have been temporally displaced into this nexus of events. Don't worry, he'll be fine. But damn if that thing isn't hard to shake off. It's like a fixed point in his personal soul-bound character arc or something.  
> She also inadvertently completed a stable time loop by ensuring Callie Ohphee existed in the first place. Caliborn never realized THAT was why he was drawn to Callie originally when he first started making waves way back in... was it Act 2? Act 3? One of those early acts. Honestly, she didn't have any goal in mind when she flung that other Cherub soul off to the side, but hey, it all worked out in the end. I wasn't sure how that cherub connection was ever going to manifest in this story, but I'm glad it got explained in text eventually. Like the whole thing with Mitchel's parents. I wasn't sure if half of these planned details would ever wind up posted.
> 
> Speaking of the PLANNED things this chapter: Damara killed off all the Englishes she could with the Sangraal enhanced Clarent.... That's about it. None of the rest of this went according to plan at all.
> 
> ANYWAYS YEAH. That was a THING.
> 
> Come Monday: An ALT chapter/intermission serving as a little bit of wrap up to this whole... thing. That just happened. Then, we transition BACK to Atlantis.


	46. ALT:10x06/INTERMISSION: Again

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I am Lost in a maze of emotion/ Who am I waiting for now?

Your name is Jake Harley, and you smile as Chixie prepares to go on stage after the current group finishes up with their shows.

"Alright, everyone!" Xefros calls out. "Now for the Grubbel's final song of the night, before we hand it over to your next performer for the evening." There was a wave of cheering from the audience, as well as a "CHIXIEEEEE!" shriek from a couple of fangirls. "Right, so, this is a work in progress, but we got approached to do a song for a cartoon show that'll be premiering in a couple of months. The title of the show is, ah, in the song, but for the moment we're actually calling this 'Chosen One.' So. Yeah. Sneak preview of what we're working on! How's that?"

There's a similar roar of cheering from the audience, along with someone shouting, "Hate you too, Xeef!!" You do a spot check and see its Baizil Soleli who shouted it, a grin on her face.

Yeah, that checks out.

Near Baizil at the same table, you see Barzum, as well as Barzum and Baizli the mirror verse kidified twins of those two. Tyzias, Daraya, Mallek, Keiko and Mikari are sitting at the table next to them.

Similarly, you spot SG-1 gathered at a table, dressed casual, and all six of them looking to unwind.

"Alright, a one two three four!" Xefros calls out for the beat, surprisingly taking the singing lead on this one as he swaps places with Joey on stage.

Joey presses a few buttons on an electronic keyboard, and as Dammek prepares for the beat... you hear this synthetic hybrid of something [Record Scratch sounding merged with an Asian sounding string melody.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8o3JrdPMNdQ)

 _"He's Cool, He's Hot, like a Frozen Sun,"_ Xefros starts singing while also playing the guitar. _"He's young and fast he's the Chosen One."_

And there'd be the title.

 _"People we're not braggin'! He's The Alternian Dragon..."_ Xefros pauses for some more of those asian- no, you think they might be Alternian Asian rather than Earth Asian- beats.

_"He's gonna stop his enemies with his Dragon Power! Dragon Teeth, Dragon Tail, Burning Dragon Fire! A Real Live Wire! Alternian Dragon!"_

Dammek chimes in with a "Dragon Up!"

 _"Alternian Dragon!"_ Xefros pauses for some more of those string beats, which seem to be pre-recorded files on Joey's keyboard as she's playing them with simple presses. _"He's the Alternian Dragon!"_

"Freestyle with the Dragon!" Dammek chimes in.

 _"His skills are getting faster, with Sensei Master! He says to me, 'What's up, G? Showtime here with the Legacy'!"_ And as Xefros continues with the "Alternian Dragon"s...

Dammek freestyles, "I'm the Dragon, I'm not braggin', it's my Herita-ge, I'm the Magical Protector of this Ga~lax~y, ya heard?"

 _"Alternian Dragooooon!"_ Xefros lets out a wild whoop as Joey plays off a gong sound from the board.

The audience digs it, though.

"Alternian Dragon: Jhaake Longge, coming this Fall," Dammek helpfully provides as the Grubbels exits the stage.

You look to Chixie, and she nods.

It's time to trail from one new song right into another.

You glance out into the audience before Chixie steps onto stage. It seems MIkari Aiikho and Okurii Leijon have joined Tyzias and the others at their little gathering area. Oh, to be in their position tonight...

* * *

 

You are now Mordred. Saber, Rider, Pendragon. Does it matter?

  
You sip at your bottle of root beer as Chixie Roixmr steps out onto stage.

The Audience cheers, and they roar in appreciation. Chixie grins a dazzling smile.

"Hey Everyone!" She greets. "We're going to jump right from one new song right to another! You're all in for a special treat!"

Once the Audience's roar of appreciation went down to a simmer, Chixie nodded to someone off stage you couldn't see and...

[Guitar rang out,](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-WRihrquec) and Chixie bopped her head to the beat, before settling into position infront of the standing microphone.

 _"I had a purpose then,"_ Chixie begins to sing. _"Pursuing the path to catalyze our dream."_ She silently claps her hands together, and then holding them out towards the distance, framing her face with the shape of her index fingers and thumbs. _"But it's a winding road, where you stumble and sway your way amongst the crowd."_

Ain't that the truth?

_"Don't get me wrong, I would never go back in time or play god, but is there a way I could earn back that endless sky?"_

Geeze, that one hits close to home, doesn't it?

_"I can see it in your eyes- Don't give me that look- 'cause, you see, you're the last person I need to pity me."_

Heck yeah!

With a rock of the beat- _"Crying won't pave a way to forgiveness!"_ Chixie stomped her heel against the stage twice as she sings at an accelerated rate. _"Every sin you carve is everlasting!"_ Stomp beat. _"I am lost in a maze of emotion! Who am I waiting for now?"_ Stomp beat- your leg twitches. _"These blank pages of my notebook-"_

Your own foot matches the Stomp beat beneath the table. _"-Become a plea to regain fallen virtue!"_ Stomp Beat Again- the rest of the crowd's gotten some of it too.

_"All this time, I've been trying to run away from my own reality!"_

Wait what- Was this song written with time travel or something!!?

 _"We'll live for something as soon as we find it. I've forgotten, please remind me."_ Chixie continues on. _"As day turns darkness- Expired chances- but we gotta make it through again! 'Cause there's no where else to run!"_

...Either way, god, this song is just a testimony to your life, isn't it?

_"There's still so much here- a life worth living! And with time you'll drown the feeling out."_

A chime from the background track of Chixie's voice sings, "I'm on the way!"

 _"It's so nostalgic-"_ Chixie then accelerates again- _"Maybe all the love is worth the pain!?"_

The song rocks on with its brief interlude, and Chixie catches her breath, hips rocking as she taps her right foot to the beat to keep time.

You're not one for modern music, but maybe you'll invest in a player to get so you can listen to this song later whenever it's officially released?

But man this song is surprisingly cathartic for your emotions so far-

 _"It's not a lack of pride,"_ Chixie starts singing again. _"But I know I'm to blame, so I apologize."_

-And surprisingly resonant with your own life too.

 _"I don't know what to say-"_ you too. _"-But I wish I could free the worry from your eyes."_

You feel that too- glancing at Cassandra who's only recently just started to get a sense of her own center of mental balance back again.

_"All we've been through and all that's yet to come and all that we have become will remain as we roll the dice."_

...Fucking hell if this song doesn't encompass everything. How the hell often does that happen?

 _"Once more, I close my eyes from the sight, but it's a futile fight, for it's all etched inside my mind."_ Chixie then stomps for the beat, and accelerates her singing:

 _"The Invite of a white lie-"_ The Audience stomps and claps to the beat. Yes! _"Some can't resist the call to join in!" Stomp Beat!! Hell Yes! "But Still, I thought I knew you better than to give into pressure!" Stomp Beat!!! Hell! "Once fury thorns in your heart!" STOMP BEAT! FUCKING!! "The FIre's quick to Consume You!" STOMP BEAT!! YES!!! "And what comes from those ashes Is Your Reality!"_

Chixie swishes her hips, rolls her head, whipping her hair side to side.

 _"We'll live for something, as soon as we find it! May we come across that future!"_ Chixie reaches out with her right hand towards the heavens. _"Can you hear me? I'm screaming! Expired chances- But We Gotta Make It Through Again! 'Cause there's Nowhere Else To Run!"_ She clenches her hand over her heart. _"It's through your kindness, I'll always be grateful, and I'll strive to become stronger!"_

_"I'm On The Way!!"_

_"I'll carry onward, gaining friend and foe along the way!"_ Chixie didn't slow down one beat or even stop. _"I try to make sense of why we can't figure out how to unlock the next door! We bleed on this path we lead, but we cannot turn back, cause our story's begun!"_ A sharp breath. _"Open Your Eyes!! Open Your Eyes!!"_

She paused as the music went on an interlude, and then slowed down slightly...

 _"There's still so much here, a life worth living,"_ Chixie started again. _"And with time I'll drown the feeling out..."_ A pause of two strums. _"I need to right all my wrongs, and finish all the things I've left undone..."_ GOD. MOOD. RIGHT THERE. _"We've Only Just Begun!"_ The beat swept up again.

 _"We'll live for something as soon as we find it, May we come across that future! Can you hear me? I'm Screaming!_ " Chixie didn't reach out again, but she glanced off stage once more. _"Expired Chances- But we gotta make it through again! 'Cause there's nowhere else to run. It's through your kindness, I'll always be grateful-_ " her hands wrap tightly around the pole stand for the microphone. _"And I'll Strive to become Stronger!"_

_"I'm On The Way!"_

_"It's so Nostalgic-_ " Chixie accelerated one final time- _"Maybe all the love is worth the paaaaaiin!?"_

And with that, the song wound down with its final strums and chorus.

"Was it just me," Jonas said, "or was that oddly and eerily reminiscent of our last mission?"

"Not just you," Mitchel said. Jude and Cassie just nodded.

"Oh, definitely," Vala agreed.

"...Yeah, that was kinda weird, but I liked it," you say.  
  
And then Mitchel remarks, "Oh, there's Okurii. I wonder what she wants with AR-2?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah. Watched Fullmetal Alchemest: Brotherhood, while I was finishing up that last arc, and looked up versions of the first opening... This one hit right in the lock and feels, wrapping up the last bit of story arc.
> 
> Tomorrow, We transition back to Atlantis.


	47. SGA:03X10: The Return (Part 1 Part B)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Velika's ambitions finally show their ramifications.

**EARTH DATE: AUGUST 13TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 02/20/0006.**

 _"For a moment, everything is still, and you feel... suspended. You can't move, but you can SEE._  
  
_There's nothing but a PLEASANT GREEN VOID around you... that suddenly FLICKERS, destabilized by SOMETHING, and then you feel a TINGLY SENSATION ACROSS YOUR BODY as all semblance of YOURSELF is TRANSMITTED ACROSS SEVERAL GALAXIES WORTH OF SPACE- with the Green Void TWISTING, SPIRALING, AND FLICKERING as STARS rush past you._  
  
_The GREEN FLICKERS- DESTABILIZES- and then seemingly EVAPORATES._  
  
_For a moment, you feel as if you've ceased to exist, and all you 'SEE' is black void._  
  
_But that's when PINPRICKS OF LIGHT begin shooting together, coalescing together into ANOTHER SWIRLING VORTEX, much like the last, except this time IT'S RED, AND IT'S *STABLE.*_  
  
_You have no way of knowing it, but the STARGATE AT THE OTHER END has PICKED UP THE SLACK at maintaining the WORMHOLE'S STABILITY, and is PULLING YOU THROUGH TO THE END all on its-"_

_**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK.** _

You are now Mikari Aiikho, and you look up from your writing. "Just a moment!"

You tab in one final word, _"own.",_ and hit save before captchaloguing your tablet and heading towards Okurii's hive's front door door.

You open the door and smile. "Hello!"

"Hey!" Keiko smiles in turn as you let her in. "Sup?"

"Not much," you say, closing the door behind her. "Just working on my memoirs."

"Your Memoirs, huh?" Keiko asks.

"Eh, well, not just mine, but everything that's happened over the years," you admit. "Probably won't even get to be read ever, but... you never know."

"Well, sure," Keiko smiles. "Here's something I do know, though. AR-2's getting together at the Ashlander's Veil tonight for dinner. Want to come join us?"

You consider it.

You took a vacation from Atlantis Expedition work in Aincrad to clear your mind a bit... But you know what? You could use a good bar night.

Why the hell not?

Then, you nod. "Sure. I'm in."

Before you leave, you leave a note on Okurii's kitchen counter saying that you'll be out for tonight and where you'll be if she needs to find you.

* * *

 

_"It's so Nostalgic-" Chixie accelerated one final time- "Maybe all the love is worth the paaaaaiin!?"_

The audience roars in applause, and you can't help but smile. "I needed this. It's been too long since I've had a night like tonight."

"Same, same!" Keiko nods.

"It's a nice break," Tyzias agrees. "After all the insanity everyone else got up to."

"Yeah," Mallek nods, glancing over at SG-1 conversing during the quiet as Chixie prepared for her next song. "Seriously. Where do we even begin with talking about something like that?"

"Ah, there's Okurii," Daraya notices your fellow leader-tiered Troll entering. "Talk about that insane time shit later, she's heading our way."

And indeed, she was heading your way, witha  grim look on her face, and a determined gate in her walk.

"Okurii," you greet, fearing for the worst. "What's the situation?"

"I need you five to come with me to the Beltus," Okruii demands. "Now."

And so you go.

* * *

 

You are now Daraya Jonjet, and you, your team, and Mikari stand in the Beltus Gate room as Okurii brings up a recorded video transmission on a terminal.

"The SGC just received this transmission from Atlantis from General O'neill and Richard Woolsey," Okurii explains.

"O'neill was at Altlantis?" Mallek asks.

"Apparently the Ancients wanted him to help smooth some things over," Okurii shakes her head. "it doesn't matter now. Things have gone rediculously pear shaped."

The video transmission starts.

_"SGC this is Atlantis," O'neill starts, looking into the camera. "We've just detected a Replicator Ship that's exited hyperspace and is making its way towards Atlantis."_

_Off screen, Landry can be heard, "First off, how the hell did they find Atlantis? Second of all, Are the Ancients concerned?"_

_"Not as much," O'neill says. "They seem pretty confident that if the Replicators try attacking them with knowing the Ancients are here, they'll run into a nasty side-effect. They're sending a Jumper up now to talk."_

_"That seems like a pretty big ship," Woolsey can be heard from off screen. "You're sure only one ship is the right response?"_

_"Yes," an Ancient man replies, "it is impossible for them to harm us."_

_"I could use some enemies like that," O'neill says, glancing off camera, then returning his gaze to the screen. "As for how the hell the bugs found us? No clue. But personally? I suspect someone here leaked our location to them!"_

_"None of us would do such a thing," the man from before says. "We have no reason to."_

_"Well, I can think of a few," O'neill remarks. "But I wasn't talking about you guys specifically. I was talking about the Ascended being Daniel says he saw a little while before we all left. You guys said there was a weird hyperspace window a few weeks back, didn't you? Like something left the system?"_

_"...That could be a possibility, although I fail to see why an Ascended-" the man is cut off as another voice interjects, distant, slightly even more radio garbled._

_"We have established communications, Command," that voice says._

_"Of course," then, the man steps into view. "This is Lieutenant Orwelyn of the Tria, the city you are approaching is once again under Lantean control. Stand down and return to your planet immediately or be de-"_

_There's a sudden shout over the line followed by static._

_"They fired on the Jumper!" Woolsey exclaims. "I thought you said they couldn't harm you!"_

_"Raise the shie--" O'neill calls out, only for the entire screen to flare with static and go out._

"We lost communications for several minutes," Okurii explains, switching to another video. "The Gate suddenly shut down. Diagnostic feedback indicates a Mark 3 Pegasus Gate entered range of Atlantis' Stargate, forcing the shut down of the outgoing wormhole."

"Bloody hell," Keiko gripes. "of course they'd do that."

"We regained contact not too much longer after that," Okurii sighs. "Apparently, they managed to target where the Stargate was on the Replicator ship, and they were able to restore a wormhole for a short while. Some Ancients managed to make it back to Earth in that time."

The video then plays.

_"Repeat! Atlantis is under attack from the Replicators!" O'neill is transmitting. "Somehow they've figured out how to override their programming! The Ancients were taken off-guard and have lost a hefty chunk of the city already! Requesting immediate evacuation!"_

_A gun fires off screen, and Woolsey hasitly backs into view. "They're coming!"_

_"SHIT!" O'neill slams his hand  on a button, and the connection goes out._

"He shut the connection down from their side that time," Tyzias observes.

"Two things we need to talk about," Okruii starts. "We were under the impression the Ancients coded a hard line shut down if the Replicators ever went agressive against them. Why didn't that work?"

"No idea," Keiko says. "It's possible they thought it was a bluff?"

"How it happened doesn't matter, they changed it on their own or didn't." You speak. "The question is, how do we fix it?"

"That's why I called you in." Okurii says. "General O'neill gave standing orders, the Daedalus is to depart for Pegasus in a matter of minutes with a nuke ready to beam down through Atlantis' shields. They've already sniped Doctor Mckay to figure out the how, and are trying to get Morgan Carter to help."

Mikari smiles. "So you want us to prevent that from happening."

Okurii decaptchalogues a box of Anti-Replicator Guns. "We have a Puddle Jumper waiting in the Midway bay as we speak. Get to Pegasus, recruit whatever help you need, and retake Atlantis back from the Replicators. Shut them down so we don't lose that city."

"Aren't we going to get in trouble for this?" Keiko asks. "I mean... we're going against General O'neills standing orders?"

"That's the lovely thing about the Atlantis Expedition Charter," Okurii smirks. "Earth Alone CAN'T make this kind of decision. The Jaffa, Tok'ra, and Alternia representatives also have to sign off on it. And as it so happens... we're a split court. The Tok'ra and Jaffa are siding on us on this one. Earth is technically going against US. And that's exactly how O'neill wanted it."

"...Why would he want that?" You ask.

"The IOA, obviously," Mikari answers. "We saw how much trouble they caused us when one man got his way and went power mad. He's trying to stop them from getting any further stranglehold on Atlantis."

"Exactly," Okurii nods. "That said, if you can't stop the Replicators before the Daedalus arrives, it doesn't matter."

"Let's not waste any more time, then," Mikari says. "We're going to take back our home."

* * *

 

Fifteen minutes later, the Midway Station's Alternia gate activated, and a Puddle Jumper exited.

Much to its crew's surprise, however, the Milky Way gate was also active, and another Puddle Jumper exited.

The gates shut down, and Keiko reached for the Jumper's radio. "This is Jumper AR-2 to unknown Jumper, to whom am I speaking?"

A moment later, a return transmission came through, showing Jimmyy O'neill and Morgan Carter.

 _"Ah... Jumper SG-1, I guess?"_ Jimmyy answers. " _We're... kinda running for cover at the moment?"_

"Let me guess," Mikari leans over Keiko's shoulder to peer at the screen. "They tried to get press-gang you into blowing up Atlantis and you both managed a quick and stealthy exit via puddle jumper?"

 _"Got it in one,"_ Morgan nods. _"Though... it wasn't really stealthy."_

"Wanna come help us smash some replicators and take back Atlantis?" Mallek asks.

 _ **"...Hell yes!"** _Jolinar answered for the four of them.

That's when the Milky Way stargate activates again- and a radio transmission comes through from a very irate, and annoyed General Landry.

_"O'neill, Carter.  I'm going to assume that you're still at the midway station waiting for Carter to rewrite the Gate macro. I understand what you're doing. Hell, I'll even call it brave, but if you don't turn that ship around immediately and come back to the SGC, I'll see to it personally that your careers are-"_

Both Jumpers elect to ignore the prerecorded transmission, and carry on through to Pegasus just as soon as they change the final destination of the Gate Bridge.

* * *

 

The wormholes flashed by in rapid succession. Flash, Flash, Flash, Flash, Flash, Flash, Flash, Flash!!!

* * *

 

Your name is Argo Lalonde...

"I understand your reluctance," Ladon of the Genii says to Teyla Emmagan, Ronon Dex, and John Sheppard, sounding not really all that sure that it'll work out. "But we could really use your experience with this next operation."

And you watch with worry as your friends consider the offer.

"What do you have in mind?" Teyla asks.

"Well, I am, of course, reluctant to go into specific details here and now," Ladon says, eyeing the sky a bit fretfully. "Needless to say, the plans are dangerous, and in need of your unique abilities."

"Send Sora to tell us then," John decides. "Otherwise, we're not interested."

Ladon nods. "Very well. Not entirely surprising. I will see you all alter."

He exits the tent, and you take his seat.

"Well?" you ask.

"I'm not going to work FOR the Genii," Ronon grunts. "With, maybe. But for? Never."

"I agree," Teyla nods. "Ladon seems desperate in a way Sora is not."

"And after the shit he pulled with the coup," John shakes his head. "Yeah. Sora or bust, honestly."

"Surely Ladon should realize that," Teyla says. "But he must think we are desperate after Atlantis was returned to the Ancestors. He must think we would see them as the most powerful and organized group of humans fighting the Wraith... and he may be right about that."

"The Ancestors will do something," Ronon says.

"Not in my experience," John says. "The most they tend to do is die horrible deaths. Atleast the Genii are asking us for help and not just sitting on their thumbs."

Ronon grimaces, and he's admitting that it's true... But even as much as you believe it yourself, you have to say:

"I know you guys are anxious to get back to the fight," you say. "But really, John?"

"He's not wrong, you know," says a familiar voice.

And suddenly, you all whirl towards the tent entrance to see Mikari Aiikho and Keiko Ayano standing at the entrance.

Mikari continues, "They do tend to just die a lot of horrible deaths. I mean, today, even, that's happening."

"Right now, even," Keiko says. "On Atlantis."

You frown. "Something's wrong."

* * *

 

You are now Jade Jackson, and you whistle as Mallek unlids a box of ANTI REPLICATOR GUNS.

"That's a lot of shiny toys!" you grin.

"Indeed they are," Keiko says, as she takes a gun from Mallek as he hands it to her.

"They work good?" Ronon asks, taking one for himself.

Tyzias answers, "These guns emit a directional energy beam, that disrupts the connections between Replicator Nanites."

"That's not what I asked," Ronon glances at her.

"...Yeah," Tyzias hefts her own ARG. "They work good."

"Good," Ronon takes a practice aim of his gun. "So... You need us because we know our way around the city?"

"We need you because you're not just part of my headline team," MIkari says, "we need you because we're all family, and we're saving our Home."

Ronon considers that. "...Been a while since I've saved a home instead of just leaving it."

"There may be hundreds of Replicators on Atlantis by now," Teyla says.

"I hope you guys have a plan," John says. "And a good one at that."

"Me too," you nod.

"We wouldn't ask you to come with us if we didn't know we could do it," Mikari says. "We have two plans, a Plan A and a Plan B."

"Backup plans are nice," you smile.

"Besides," Jimmyy chimes in. "Older me and Woolsey were both on Atlantis when it was attacked. Knowing me? They're still alive and kicking."

"Well," Argo stands from where she was sitting. "I'll be damned if I'm going to let a bunch of Replicators take our home away from us for a second time. I'm in."

"Me too," you agree.

"Teyla, Ronon?" John asks. They nod in agreement,  "Of course we're in, Mikari. Did you even have to ask?"

Mikari smiles. "Good."

"So what's Plan A?" You ask.

"Plan A, once we get onto Atlantis, is us hacking into the Replicator Source Code and freezing all of them solid for as long as we possibly can," Tyizas says. "Then, we sweep Atlantis and dust every single Replicator in the city."

"Sounds like a good plan," Ronon says. "I like it."

Mikari then says, "Plan B is a bit... different, but we'll explain that on the way. Time is of the essence. Let's go save our home."

* * *

 

With a flash of a stock wormhole sequence later...

* * *

 

Two Jumpers float outside of a SpaceGate's kawoosh radius amongst a small gathering of frozen humanoid replicators, stuck in space following a particularly nasty space walk misconception.

"Okay," you are Morgan Carter, and you smile as you finish loading the backdoor program into the Atlantis GDO. "We're loaded and ready to go. It'll lower the shield when we dial in."

"Alright then," Sheppard says from the pilot's chair. "Jumper 2, this is Jumper 1, have you retrieved the package?"

 _"Jumper 1, Jumper 2, We have indeed retrieved the package,"_ Keiko answers. _"We're ready to begin attack run on your mark."_

"Good," Sheppard glances into the back of the cabin, where the rest of his team, plus Jade and your Jimmyy, are resting inside. "Everyone ready?"

Nods all around.

Jade chimes in- "Shields are ready to go!"

"Okay then," Sheppard turns his attention to the Spacegate. "Jumper 2, flank up. We're only going to get one shot at this."

And then, he nods to you, and you begin dialing the Gate.

The KAWOOSH lights up the interior of the Jumper thanks to its distance and angle.

You get a beep of a confirmation back.

"And that's confirmation, Gate shield lowered," you grin.

"Alright," Sheppard says. "I hope this little plan of ours works out, otherwise this is going to be one short trip."

And with that, your two Jumpers rush through the Stargate in sequence.

* * *

 

**TO BE CONTINUED.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And *NOW*... the Conclusion to that last Atlantis Cliffhanger. Just for another Cliffhanger. LOL.
> 
> But yeah. Tomorrow: ATL:03X11: The Return, Part 2.  
> Following that: MINISODE: Unprofessional Courtesy.  
> And finally: ATL:03X12/INTERMISSION: Echoes.


	48. SGA:03X11: The Return, Part 2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 2/2. Conclusion. AR1 and AR2 storm Atlantis to take it back from the Replicators.

**EARTH DATE: AUGUST 13TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 02/20/0006.**  
  
A small noise draws attention.

"General?" whispered Woolsey.

A moment later, Woolsey peers around the corner of a darkened hallway, holding a handgun.

"General!?" he called out again.

You rush out and grab him by the arm. "And if I'm a Replicator?" You ask.

Woolsey slumps. "Then I've just exposed my position."

Your name is General Jack O'neill, and you point out the obvious. "Again."

"I'm sorry, I'm not very good at this," Woolsey admits.

You both move back to where Woolsey had been hiding before. You pull out a power bar, and hand it to Woolsey with a "here."

"Thank God, I'm starving!" Woolsey starts eating the bar, hungrily. And then, he dares to ask, "Was this all you could find?"

Sarcastically, you reply, "No, actually, they had a full spread bed and breakfast buffet. I took so long scarfing down waffles and pancakes like nobody's business."

Woolsey deflates. "How did the recon go?"

"Well, Stargate Ops is crawlin' with the bugs- literally, the scorpion things are everywhere. There's no way we can reach the Jumper Bay."

"...Were they looking for us?" Woolsey asks.

You fix him with THAT LOOK. "Gee, I forgot to ask!"

"Well, as long as the life signs detectors aren't working in this part of the city, we should be able to hold out until rescue comes," Woolsey says.

"Now, see, that all depends," you say.

"On what?" Woolsey asks.

"If Teal'c and Egeria decide the risk is too great and side with my horrible idea of a backup plan instead of going with Okurii's plan," you answer.

"Which is what?" Woolsey asks, growing concerned.

"I gave Landry standing orders to nuke the city if there's any sign of a foothold situation by the Replicators," you answer.

"Well why would you do THAT FOR!?" Woolsey hisses at you.

"It seemed like a good idea at the time!" you answer.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, up in the Gate Room and Control Room of Atlantis' Central Spire, the Stargate suddenly began to dial in.

_**WAA WAA! KAWOOOOOOSH!** _

"What's happening?" The Replicator known as Talus asked. "Activate the shield."

"I cannot," the one known as Cetus responds. "The System is rejecting my commands."

A moment later- two Puddle Jumpers barge through the Stargate in quick succession- blowing over the Replicator Guards that stood near the gate, and partially ramming at an angle up the stairs before stopping still- and holding the entire Gate room's length full up tight with the length of Two Puddle Jumpers.

The Replicators begin firing- only for their attacks to splash harmlessly against the force shield spread out across the two Jumpers.

* * *

 

Your Radio suddenly buzzes.

_"Authentication Code Alpha Six Delta Charlie Niner. General O'neill, Woolsey, do you copy?"_

You grab for it, and radio back, "Sheppard? Is that you!?"

 _"Yes sir, we need to know if you're anywhere near Stargate Operations,"_ Sheppard asks.

"No, we're not!" you reply.

 _"That's good, can't talk now, Sir, Radio Silence. Get back to you in a little while,"_ Sheppard then goes silent.

* * *

 

"Jumper One, Two, Drop The Welcome Gifts on Mark," you are John Sheppard, and you pause for a moment. "MARK."

 _"Welcome Gifts have been deployed,"_ Argo reports from the other Jumper.

"Ramming Speed," you command, and launch your two Jumpers up the stairs of Stargate Operations like its a ramp.

Both Jumpers burst out through the tower's glass wall like an ascending missile.

"Detonation in Three," Jade counts down. "Two...."

She snaps her fingers.

And then you hear the wonderful sound of a double detonation along side the sound of shattering metal and stone.

You temporarily retract the shield from both Jumpers, and Jumper Two behind you cloaks immediately, disengaging to elsewhere, meanwhile, you continue your ascent towards the upper atmosphere, shields raised.

Then, you crack a smile, and say, "That went well."

Morgan gives a wincing shrug.

* * *

 

 

[ **O < \--- STARGATE: ATLANTIS --- >O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0)

* * *

 

"That sounded like an explosion," Woolsey remarks.

You're still General Jack O'neill, and you give him a withering glance. "That's because it was."

"Is Sheppard attacking the city?"

"Well, he'd better be!" you grimace.

"Why can't he get back to us immediately?" Woolsey asked.

"Probably because the Replicators could track our radios and they need stealth?" You offer.

"Oh. Good point."

You get the feeling this is going to be a very long night.

* * *

 

Your name is Okurii Leijon, and you raise an eyebrow as General Landry enters your office.

"What can I do for you, General?" You ask.

"Just coming to inquire if O'neill and Carter came through here," he answers.

"Oh, is that so?" you ask in turn.

"Well?" he asks in turn of that.

"Well what?" you ask in turn of his turn.

"Well, did they pass through here or not?" Landry asks, growing a bit frustrated with your turnaround of his turnaround.

"Hmm, I can't say," you muse. "Did they come via Linking Book?"

"No, they left through the Midway gate," Landry answers.

"And when was that?" You ask in turn.

"Can we not do this, General Leijon?" Landry asks in turn of your turn. "I'm tired, cranky, and debating how much paperwork I have to file."

"Can we not do what?" you ask, grinning. "And besides, you didn't answer my question. When did they leave by Midway? I can't help if I don't know that."

"...An hour ago," Landry answers.

"An hour, an hour..." you muse. "Well, I think I can safely say they didn't come through here, because I sent my own team through to Midway at about that time too."

"...You did what?" Landry asks, staring at you.

"I sent AR-2, or, rather, ALT-2 given that the Expedition is suspended presently, to Midway to go to Atlantis and take it back from the Replicators," you answer.

"You do realize that you're going against General O'neill's standing orders to blow the City up incase of a foothold situation, right?" Landry rhetorically asks.

"Oh? Is that so?" You ask, equally rhetorically. "Because I have The Tok'ra and Jaffa leadership's sign off on approving my little operation to take the city back. And you know exactly what that means, right?"

Landry eyes you for several long seconds, and then he finally asks. "Is that so?"

"That's about the gist of it, yes. Isn't it amusing how these things go?" you ask.

"...So they are," Landry chuckles. "Well. Good luck with that, General Leijon. I think I will go home and take a long deserved nap."

"You do that," you smile and wave him out of your office. "Have Good Sleep!"

* * *

 

"That's going to take a lot to clean up," you are once again Argo Lalonde, and you wince as you glance out the Jumper's window to watch another crumbling piece of the top of Atlantis' central spire break free and tumble sideways through the air before splashing down into the ocean between two of the City's pier arms.

"Good thing the Replicators are footing the bill," Daraya remarks, similarly glancing out at it.

Then, you both return your attention and your ARGs to the back half of the Jumper, where an unconscious, still frozen Replicator body lies on the floor.

"How's it going, Tyzias?" you ask.

"Hacking into the Replicator Source Code is harder than it looks," Tyzias answers. "If I had a few more hours to work on this, or previous work to work off of... I'd be a lot more comfortable."

"It's a good thing John and the others are serving as a distraction," Mikari remarks. "All those shots we took, there's no way we'd be able to convert back to a cloak from the shield in time."

Mallek laughs. "Oh, I'm sure they'd find a way if they needed to. But it's really lucky we wound up with two Jumpers instead of one."

"Speaking of, I think I've locked onto the underwater Jumper bay closest to where O'neill's radio signal came from," Keiko says, bringing up a map of the city. "Right here." She points at a spot, highlighting it.

"Eesh," you grimace, seeing it. "That part flooded back on Lantea during the Storm. I'm not sure it even drained properly when we left for this place."

"So what you're saying is it might be flooded with two different planet's worth of water?" Mallek asks. "Lovely!"

"Atleast the sensors should be down with the tower damaged," Mikari says. "They won't notice us going into the water, will they?"

"They might be able to work fast at rebuilding things," Keiko answers, "but I doubt they're able to work that fast. It'll take them a couple of hours at most."

"If we timed this right, it should work to our advantage," you say. "And if not, I'll buy us the time we need."

* * *

 

You are now Jade Jackson, and you peer down at the City of Atlantis from a safe distance above. Just within what would be working sensor range, but what should be outside of their drone firing range.

The city looks like a glowing doughnut of light, with a hole of darkness where the tower has gone dark.

Then, there's suddenly a surge of activity on one of the piers. Flashes of light similar to welding arcs.

"There," John points at it. "They're taking apart the Aurora Class ship that they brought with them for supplies. We're on the clock. While they're busy repairing everything, we'll move in and start harassing the City's important places. Force them to divert some resources. Should buy the others enough time to complete Plan A."

"Will the others not be vulnerable to the same nanovirus which infected Richard Woolsey?" Teyla asks of Plan A.

"Eh," you wriggle your hand side to side. "Those Robots were all pretty much dead if not completely drained. They've been floating in space for well over a few months."

"So the one we captured is only mostly dead, right?" Ronon asks.

You nod. "They should only have enough power levels to transmit the new source code and not regain consciousness."

* * *

 

"Woah!" You are Tyzias Entykk, and you jerk back in shock as the male replicator on the ground twitches his right hand's fingers. "Geeze, this one's got a bit more juice than we expected."

"We going to be alright?" Daraya asks, keeping her gun aimed at the Replicator's head.

"It's Plan A, if we're not, we've got Plan B," you frown, checking the data on your tablet. "Shit, as it is, we might have to go to Plan B anyways."

"Why's that?" Keiko asks from the front.

You spare a glance out the window, watching as you submerge under water.

"I don't know if I can safely transmit the kill code or not without raising the Replicator's power levels even higher than they are," you answer.

"Well, let's hope we don't have to do that," Mikari says. "This is already a risky enough mission as it is.

* * *

 

The Replicators Talus and Cetus arrived in an Atlantis work station, ditching their somewhat battered appearances with a quick refresh of nannites along their bodies.

"Repairs are under way in Stargate Operations, but we have lost all main sensors," Talus reports.

"We are trying to route all telemetry through these terminals, but they were not designed to take on so many systems," Cetus informs.

Talus continues, "We have stationed several observers around the city, If the gateship returns, we will detect it visually."

Cetus continues, "They communicated briefly with someone within the city, we are dispatching search parties."

They both pause, and receive an inquiry from command back at home on Asura.

"All of the Ancients were killed," Talus reports. "Their commander attempted to conceal this fact as I probed his mind. There are no survivors."

"Humans," Cetus reminded. "There may have been a small number of humans within the City." He points at a part of the city where damage was obvious. "They may be hiding where the sensors are inoperable. If we want to capture those who attacked us, we must first capture those they came to rescue."

Command gave their consent to go ahead with the search.

* * *

 

"We're approaching the Jumper Bay..." you are now Keiko Ayano, and you carefully bring the Jumper in for a landing... if the doors would just open. "...The Doors aren't working."

Of course the doors would be jammed.

"And I've got another problem," Tyzias chimes in. "Even if I can get this upload to work, I don't think I can hold them frozen for longer than ten, maybe twenty minutes, and that's not nearly enough time for Plan A."

"Alright. We'll have to start making headway in Plan B, then." You begin re-routing for another Jumper Bay. "If we can even get INSIDE the City at this rate."

"How long before you can start transmitting?" Mikari asks.

"Oh, I can  start transmitting now, I just don't know if it will do anything right now," Tyzias answers. "I honestly have no idea if I'm in the right subroutine matrix or not. If I had another ten hours to work on this, maybe??"

"If it doesn't work, it doesn't work," you say, as the Jumper picks up an energy surge. Shit! "We're out of time. They're powering on the Star Drive."

"What?" Mallek asks. "With the tower still damaged? Are they insane??"

"They're trying to get us to panic," Mikari says.

"Then we oughta start panicking," you say. "Tyzias, start broadcasting. We have to stop them."

"Got it..." Tyzias answers. "And, transmitting."

* * *

 

The Jumper's alarms start blaring.

"Oh crap," Sheppard swears, and starts accelerating the Jumper towards the city.

"I know that O Crap!" you are Jimmyy O'neill, and you are not amused. "I thought we were outside of drone range!"

"It's not drones, they're powering on the Star Drive," Sheppard answers. "Jade, get ready to intercept enemy fire and use it against them."

"Got it," Jade answers, her green eyes flaring with brightness as she begins to use her powers.

Another alarm blares.

"And THERE'S the Drones," Sheppard reports. "Five Targets."

"I see them!" Jade answers. "...And I've got two of them. Redirecting into the others."

Two explosions fire off inbetween you and the City.

"Grabbing stragler!" Jade reports. "Got it! Trailing it and waiting to use it against next batch of fire!"

"I'm taking us in towards the Star Drive relays," Sheppard reports, and begins zooming into the City's interior. "More Drones Incoming! Five Targets again."

You grip the arms of your seat, as Lantash laments within your head:

_[This is a lot less fun when I'm doubly in a passenger's seat.]_

_'For you and me both, bud,'_ you answer, watching as you zig-zag through the city's towers.

You hear an explosion behind you, along with bending metal and stone.

"Hey! Mind the paint!" you yell at whatever just happened.

* * *

 

You are Jack O'neill, and you look up upon hearing the explosion.

"That sounded like another explosion," Woolsey points out the obvious.

"Yes, it did," you say.

"What does that mean?" Woolsey asks.

"Something. Exploded." you answer.

"But is it Sheppard attacking the Replicators or the other way around?" Woolsey asks, annoyingly.

"We'll find out!" You tell him.

"How did they even get here? Through the Gate? The Daedalus??" Woolsey asks.

You give him a withering look. "I've been sitting next to you this entire time. HOW could I POSSIBLY know more than you do?"

Woolsey sighs, and tugs off his tie. "Look, I told you I wasn't good at this."

"Look, Sheppard said he'd be back in a while, and I think it won't have been a 'while' until..." you glance at your watch. "...Another eleven seconds."

There's another explosion, and the corridor rocks about.

"Hey!" You gripe. "Mind the paint!"

* * *

 

 **"If we keep this up, there won't be much of a city left to save,"** you are now Jolinar of Atlantis, and you take over for Carter as she starts running calculations inside her head.

"Excuse me while I try to run the drones past the places that _need repairing_!" Sheppard counters, annoyed, as you all swerve to avoid more counter fire from another direction.

Jade's commandeered Drones smash into the ones coming at you, causing more explosions.

* * *

 

 _"Tyzias!"_ You are Mallek Adalov, and going by the flashes of light above the surface of the water, it's clearly not working.

"I don't know if it's a lack of power or the wrong code!" Tyzias answers. "I don't know what to tell you!"

"Boost the power, and if it still doesn't work, then we know it's the code!" You make the executive decision. "Argo, Daraya, blast that replicator if it wakes up!"

They nod affirmative.

* * *

 

"Stardrive, ten o'clock, NOW!" Sheppard calls out.

"DIVERTING!" Jade yells.

* * *

 

A flash of light from the surface signals the sudden and abrupt end of a power build up in the Star Drive.

"Well, atleast that's THAT taken care of," Keiko remarks.

* * *

 

A drone strikes the jumper's shields, and the whole bubble flares around the Jumper with a dangerous hissing noise.

"Shit!" Sheppard calls out. "Shields took a hit! Jade?!"

"Sorry!" she apologizes. "They snuck one in while I was taking out the Star Drive!"

"That's enough of this then!" Sheppard dives into the ocean, and you hear several loud bangs from the surface of the water as the drones impact.

* * *

 

"Did..." You start as the surface calms down, and then you turn to look to the back. "Did it do anything?"

"I can't tell if-" Tyzias yelps in shock as the Replicator suddenly bolts into a sitting upright position---

_**PVWOOO!** _

\---For all of two seconds before Argo and Daraya dust it.

"So much for Plan A," Daraya gripes.

Keiko takes to the radio. "Sheppard, do you copy?"

 _"Yeah, we're fine. A bit banged up, but we're fine. We're moving to rendezvous with you,"_ Sheppard answers. _"What's the situation on Plan A?"_

"Dusted," Argo answers.

 _"Well, shit,"_ Sheppard says. "Plan B?"

"Plan B," Mikari agrees.

* * *

 

You are once again Jimmyy O'neill.

"Let's check in on General O'neill, now," Sheppard says, then there's a pause, changing of channels. "General O'neill, are you there, Sir?"

 _"Well it's about damn time! Yes, we're here. You're Late, Sheppard!"_ General O'neill's voice is a welcome relief to hear, and you relax a little upon hearing it.

Odd, that, given that it's your own damned voice.

"Sorry, Sir," Sheppard says from the pilots seat. "Had to put the parking break on the City. Didn't want our uninvited guests going Grand Theft Auto on us."

 _"Whatever,"_ General O'neill replies. _"Where are you now?"_

"We're not exactly inside the City yet," Sheppard answers. "We're heading towards an underwater Jumper bay."

 _"Well,"_ Mikari interjects from the other jumper. _"What we think is an underwater Jumper Bay. The last one we checked didn't want to open up for us."_

 _"Is that Miss Aiikho I hear?"_ General O'neill asks.

 _"Yes, General, it's good to hear your voice too,"_ Mikari says.

 _"I didn't say it was Good, Mikari!"_ General O'neill says, his tone of voice... Eeesh. Other you isn't happy. _"Please, don't be offended as I express my 'surprise' that Landry would send you on a mission like this."_

"Well, Sir," you chime in. "General Landry didn't sanction this mission. Okruii did. And so did Teal'c, and Egeria, as far as I understand it."

 _"...Jimmyy, please don't take this the wrong way. But WHAT THE HELL are you doing there??"_ General O'neill asks. _"No, wait, better question. Am I to assume you are NOT surrounded by heavily armed SG-teams and young, strapping, Alternian marines?"_

"You've got AR-1 with Jade instead of Mckay, Jimmyy, Lantash, Mikari, Myself, and Jolinar, sir," Morgan speaks up, wisely keeping the other jumper's contents quiet.

General O'neill replies very sarcastically, _"Jade instead of Mckay, is it? Well, I'm comforted! Don't you have a kid you should be watching!?"_

"She's on a play date with one of the young Athosians who was born last year," Jade answers the total and honest truth. You're sure of that much. "Besides. I'm half the reason the Star Drive is offline."

 _"...Oi,"_ General O'neill laments.

"If you don't like it, then just stay where you are and don't do a thing," you chime in. "Leave the heroics to the younger and hipper crowd!"

 _"Like you're one to talk, Jim!"_ General O'neill counters.

Morgan giggles at that.

 _"Alright, we're approaching the Jumper Bay,"_ Mikari reports. _"We're going radio silent until we're inside the City. Please stay put, Sir."_

"Fine. You'd better have a damn good plan. And in the off chance don't fail miserably, let's hope you all don't get Fired!"

* * *

 

This time, the Jumper Bay doors open, and both Jumpers are able to land and park without issue.

The Jumper Bay doors close properly, and the drainage systems function, evacuating water from the bay, and allow the two teams to reconvene inebetween the two Jumpers.

"Okay, so... Plan B, right?" you are now John Sheppard, and you frown as you check your watch. "Do we have time to do that before the Daedalus arrives?"

"We're going to be cutting it short, but yes," Tyzias shakes her heads. "I can't believe we're going to even do this, but it's the only option we have left."

"Do we have enough C-4 left?" Argo asks.

"More than enough," Jade nods. "I barely needed any to make those bombs we used, and my powers tripled what was there anyways."

That's when a radio buzzes.

 _"Uh, whatever your plan is. Hurry it up!"_ O'neill says. _"We've got compa-" WHACK!- "GAH!"_

There's a whump, a groan, and a barely heard "Don't Move" before the line goes silent.

"...Did other me just totally get pistol whipped by a Replicator?" Jimmyy asks.

"Sounds like it," Morgan sighs.

"We can work with this," Keiko says, a smile growing on her face. "If General O'neill got captured, then so did Woolsey."

You lose focus for a second, then snap back to yourself.  Geeze, you must be more tired than you thought. Who are you again?

Yes. You are still John Sheppard, a short while in the past. Wait. What? No, it's the present, you doofus. What were you even thinking just now? Oh, Right yeah.

"...So, we modify Plan B a little bit to make it into Plan C?" you ask.

"More like Plan C-4, but yeah," Keiko nods. "We can definitely work with this. It'll come off as desperate, but that's exactly what we need. Plus, with our numbers kept secret, we're going to be able to do a lot more than they think we are. First, we're going to need to split into groups."

"I was gonna suggest that anyway," you say. "What's step two?"

* * *

 

You are Genera Jack O'neill, and you wince as you pick yourself up off the floor of the Jail cell you got so rudely thrown into.

"Why couldn't they just Zat us?" You lament. "That hurts less than a concussion."

"Agreed," Woolsey grimaces, glancing up at the tall Replicator man standing guard over you both. "What was that even about?"

"What were you doing in the flooded sections of the city?" The Replicator demands.

"It was flooded?" You ask. "I wouldn't know, honestly! But if I had a chance. The Backstroke, for sure!"

The Replicator doesn't buy it.

"Where are the others?"

"What others?" You ask.

"What are you planning?" The Replicator demands.

"Me? Well, a wedding, lots of cake. Flowers. You know. The whole nine yards of red carpet. A quaint little pirvate meadow nestled in between the pine trees of ye old Washington state?" You answer. "After that, well, I was planning to retire, but, Man, is THAT overrated.  I mean, it's not like I'm a workaholic or anything, but, you know, I like to stay active…with the community. It's-it's a health maintenance sort of thing, you know?"

The Replicator then gives the order for you both to be restrained and...

Oh, it's hand in face time.

FUN.

_**FWASH!** _

_And then, you're at the SGC gate room, with both you and the Replicator- Ah, TALUS is his name- standing at the top of the ramp._

_"So. Whatcha' doin'?" You ask._

_"Probing your mind," Talus answers. Ohohoho. He's struggling. He's trying not to show it, but he's definitely struggling._

_Hah. All that off and on training to fortify your mind against Alternian Mind Readers has paid off._

_"Kinda Roomy, ain't it?" You inquire._

_"Your ability to resist is quite remarkable, General O'neill," Talus says._

_"Yeah, well, it's not the first time I've had a hand in my head, or another mind in my head, for that matter," you then shove some memories his way for him to 'coincidentally' discover._

_All those images of the Replicators swarming the SGC._

_You make sure to hide the bit about the disruptor wave, though, you make sure the look of Fifth's moment of triumph just moments before he died gets through._

_Talus scowls. "If you do not give me what I am looking for, I am sure Richard Woolsey will."_

_"Good luck with that." You say. "I'll tell you what, though. Look around, and I'll tell you if you're getting hot or cold, alright?"_

_And then you purposefully feed him a thing about an underwater jumper bay with jammed doors. Just the fact that there's a bay with jammed doors. Nothing more._

_Talus grins, satisfied. "Ah. There it is."_

_"So, Hot, Right?" You ask and---_ **_a-aaaaaaaaa_ aaaaaAAAhhhHRGH!! DAMN IT THAT HURTS!**

Talus and his Replicator pals leave, leaving you and Woolsey trapped in the cell.

"That was the second worst thing I've ever experienced with a Replicator," Woolsey complains.

"Only the second?" You ask, wincing from the pain in your skull.

* * *

 

"We far out number them," Cetus says. "We must conduct a search."

Talus declines. "We will be able to locate them more effectively once repairs to the Central Tower are complete."

"The damage was severe. We had to dismantle our ship to provide the raw materials." Cetus says.

"Command approves. Once repaired, Atlantis will be the only ship we need."

* * *

 

You are once more Jolinar, and as Morgan Carter and Jimmyy O'neill slip into the prison cell, you prepare for the bluff of a life time.

Jack knows Sam's tells when she's lying. But... he doesn't know yours nowhere near as well.

Or, atleast, he shouldn't. You've picked up some remarkably different tools in terms of body language after spending years with Argo and Mikari that the other Jolinar never had.

"Hey!" Jack hisses as he spots you. "It's about time! Again!"

"Oh thank god," Woolsey sighs in relief.

"Get 'em out, Carter, I'll stand guard," Jimmyy takes up position at the door to the room, you move to the control console.

You open it up and pretend to work on it.

 _'Come oooon. Just let me break them out properly,'_ your host requests with no small level of indignation. _'This is embarassing.'_

 _[It's also not the time,]_ you say.

"Hey! Thanks for the rescue!" Jack says.

"You're welcome," you answer, pretending to be Morgan, peering at the console device. "Don't worry, we should have you ot of there in no time at..."

You put on the most shocked face you can muster.

"Oh come on! Did they really-?" You pause, and modulate your voice. **"Yes. It seems they really did change the pass codes. How unfortunate."**

"But you can crack it, right?" Woolsey asks. "You can get us out of here, right??"

_'Easily! They didn't even change the codes.'_

"Of course we can," you say. "Just... give me two or three seconds..." you tap furiously at your console device... It beeps angrily at you for doing a command it doesn't recognize. Heh.

"So I guess Plan A didn't really pan out, did it?" Jack asks.

"Yeah, not so much," you put on Sam Carter's #1 "Whoops, that didn't go right" wince. "Freezing them all just didn't work out. And without them being frozen and unable to communicate..." you put on Sam Carter's #2 "Oh, damn it. Now comes the hard to explain part" grimace. "Well, we can't exactly dust the Replicators incase they build up an immunity to it over time. So... Yeah. New Plan."

"So, Plan B." Jack sounds irritated. "How's that working out for ya? Good?"

"Uh, well," you admit, with Sam Carter's #3 "You're not going to like this" wince. "It's more like Plan C. As in, C-4. if you catch my drift."

"I don't, actually," Jack says. "Elaborate?"

"Well, um," you cough. "We're going to rig the Shield generators with C-4, so worst case, Daedalus doesn't arrive on time, when they turn the Stardrives back on and take off, it'll detonate, meaning the City loses structural integrity and tears itself apart under the forces."

"And Best case?" Jack asks.

"...The shield generators explode when the Daedalus arives and the Replicators try to raise the shields to defend themselves, thus allowing the Daedalus to beam a bomb into the city?" You answer with Sam Carter's #1 "You're really not going to like this at all" wince.

"I thought we were PAST the plan of destroying Atlantis!" Woolsey exclaims, frustrated.

Jack eyes you suspiciously as you say, "Unfortunately, it's the only way."

"Can you do that?" He finally asks.

_'Oh god, he's going to strangle us over this later, isn't he?'_

_[Ssssh! I need to focus!]_

You focus. You are Jolinar of Atlantis. You are here and now in the Present and you have a plan to sell.

"If we plant charges around the city in all ten of the shield emitters before the Replicators find a need to activate the shield..." You trail off.

"The C-4 detonates, the Daedalus beams in a warhead, and we're all vaporized!" Woolsey hisses.

"This sounds more like a Plan F, doesn't it?" Jack asks. "As in: 'We are Totally Fucked!'"

"If we can get back to the Jumper bay, then we can fly out to a safe distance, as long as we can open the door first," you lie. Because your Jumper is NOT caught in a flooded bay with a locked door.

"You can't even open this door!" Jack counters.

"You're distracting me!" you counter.

Jimmyy calls out: "We've got comapny. Sorry, me, we're going to have to come back."

"No!" You protest. "We can't leave them! I just told them everything!"

"You told them?" Jimmyy asks, raising an eyebrow. "Why!?"

"Because I thought I'd have time to get them out but they kept wanting to talk!" You explain.

Jack has the presence of mind to wince a little. "We'll just forget what you said. Go, get out of here while you still can."

With a nod, you and Jimmyy take off.

And then you both crack a grin once you're out of sight.

Poor Woolsey.

_'I hope Jack's not going to be too mad at us.'_

_[Oh, he'll be fine.]_

* * *

 

"And done," Mikari smiles as she closes up a shield emitter console.

"Good," Teyla nods. "We are ahead of schedule."

"Perfect. Now let's find some place out of the way and wait for this thing to be over."

* * *

 

At another shield emitter...

"One more to go," Ronon says as Daraya works on a shield emitter.

"Amost done," she frowns. "We haven't run into a single Replicator yet."

"Yeah, it's weird," Ronon agrees.

* * *

 

"Okay, that should do it," Tyzias says.

"One more to go," Keiko nods.

"And then it's all over but the crying and pissing of pants," Tyzias cackles briefly.

"Hopefully the Replicators, not us," Keiko laughs.

Then, they hear a sharp noise, and a build up of humming.

"Aw, crap," Keiko sighs.

"Stardrives again?" Tyzias asks.

"Do you even need to ask?" Keiko shakes her head. "They've been busy repairing the city. Of course they'd be too busy doing that to come after us."

The ground trembles, and the City starts to shake.

"They're going to have to activate the shield to take off, and if we're not done yet-" Keiko says. "How far away are we from the Chair?"

Tyzias checks her tablet. "Argo and John are closer."

* * *

 

Needless to say, the Atlantis Chair room was burst into with extreme prejudice in the form of a man transformed into a windy tornado, and a cat-crow-person dual wielding Anti-Replicator-Guns.

Less than thirty seconds later, Atlantis fired a single Drone onto its stardrive relays yet again, shutting the take off process down, and forcing the surviving replicators to double time their repair work once-a-freaking-gain.

* * *

 

Talus and Cetus considered their actions, and despite how their commander was ordering them to just kill the humans and be done with it, they decided to err on the side of caution.

Cetus went to capture the ones who had taken out the guards at the chair room. Talus went to interrogate Richard Woolsey one more time.

Surprisingly, Cetus managed to capture everyone he thought there was to capture. John, Teyla, Ronon, Jimmyy, Morgan, and MIkari...

But the Replicators had no idea that they captured Argo Lalonde instead of Jade Jackson.

Daraya, Mallek, Tyzias, Jade, and Keiko remained undetected within the City, completing the work they were setting out to do.

And by the time Talus retrieved the plan of destroying the City's shields from Woolsey's mind? Those five had finished what they'd set out to do, and hunkered down in the last safe place they had to hunker down in- the underwater Jumper bay that WASN'T flooded and DIDN'T have a jammed door.

By the time Cetus dragged AR-1 and company into the same Jail Cell as Woolsey and O'neill, everything was in place. Woolsey and O'neill both gave Argo a confused look, because they were SURE that it was Jade that was with the team and not her.

"Your plan has failed," Talus bragged, holding up a bag full of C-4 that they'd removed from the shield generators. "We have removed your explosive devices, and you will now sit and watch as Atlantis takes flight again to travel to your Precious Earth and destroy it. The Daedalus will not arrive in time to destroy us, and even if they did, we would raise our shields and they would protect us from your explosives."

"Yeeeah, sure, you could do that, but there's one thing you forgot to account for," Argo cracked a grin, reaching into their pocket and pulling out a small green glowing marble.

"And what's that?" Talus asked, not knowing the dreadful irony of the situation about to unfold.

"Well, you see..." Argo dropped the marble. "The C-4 Ruse..."

* * *

 

_You are still John Sheppard, a short while in the past. Wait. What? No, it's the present, you doofus. What were you even thinking just now? Oh, Right yeah._

_"...So, we modify Plan B a little bit to make it into Plan C?" you ask._

_"More like Plan C-4, but yeah," Keiko nods. "We can definitely work with this. It'll come off as desperate, but that's exactly what we need. Plus, with our numbers kept secret, we're going to be able to do a lot more than they think we are. First, we're going to need to split into groups."_

_"I was gonna suggest that anyway," you say. "What's step two?"_

_Keiko starts, "Well, all we really have to tweak in Plan B is disguising what we're doing to the shield generatos, AND make the Replicators think that we're going ahead and blowing up the City."_

_"Plan B for Blow it up," Tyzias nods._

_"Yeah," she nods. "But otherwise, we're still just going with Plan Blow Them All Away at Once."_

* * *

 

_"As we know, Atlantis has ten of these shield emitters that generates the blasts of energy that form into the shield that protects the city," Keiko demonstrates, opening a console. "So, we take the extra Anti-Replicator Crystals Okurii packed for us and interface them in with the shield generators like we were planning on doing before, but now, we disguisse what we're doing with a non-activatable bundle of C-4... The Replicators, once Woolsey tells them, will see the C-Four-est for the Trees, and ignore the crystals that shouldn't be there."_

_"And that's where splitting up into teams comes in," you nod._

_"Exactly!" Keiko nods. "Now, everyone, pay attention. I need to show you how to do this so you don't accidentally actually hook the C-4 into anything that could legitimately set it off."_

* * *

 

_"Are you sure you can trigger it remotely?" Jade asks as she watches Mallek type away at his grubtop keyboard._

_"Of course I can trigger the City's Shield remotely," He adjusts his glasses with the back of his hand without breaking his flow of typing. "Part of what the rest of the team is doing is opening the WIFI ports on the shield generators. I'm just writing the code to patch the Jumper's Shield Generator Trigger Command into the City's Shield Generator Trigger Command!"_

* * *

 

_"They are bound to discover one of our groups working on the shield emitters," Teyla advises as the groups start to form up._

_"I already thought of that," Keiko says. "That's why I sent Jimmyy and Morgan to go find General O'neill and Woolsey to tell them we're blowing the city up instead."_

* * *

 

_"Here," Jade hands Argo a Marble, glowing green. "I'm tracking this. When you're ready, drop it to the ground."_

_"Got it," Argo nods._

* * *

 

_"Remember folks!" Tyzias holds up her ARG. "Once you've made all your alterations, avoid using the shiny new toys, even if that means you get caught! Actually, it'll be better if those of us who the Replicators are going to be aware are here actually do surrender easily. That way they'll be more likely to put us all in one place."_

* * *

 

_You focus. You are Jolinar of Atlantis. You are here and now in the Present and you have a plan to sell._

_"If we plant charges around the city in all ten of the shield emitters before the Replicators find a need to activate the shield..." You trail off._

_"The C-4 detonates, the Daedalus beams in a warhead, and we're all vaporized!" Woolsey hisses._

_"This sounds more like a Plan F, doesn't it?" Jack asks._

* * *

 

_"I think other me didn't buy it," Jimmyy remarks as you exit the hallway. "But Woolsey definitely did."_

_**"Well, maybe I should go into acting then, hm?"** You ask._

_Morgan nudges, and you let her speak again._

_"God, that was so embarassing. I could have had them out without any trouble."_

* * *

 

_Cetus removes his hand from Woolsey's head, and declares, "We need to get to the Shield emitter stations. Remove the C-4 explosive devices planted there."_

_"Way to resist, Woolsey," O'neill glares at Woolsey, who massages at his head._

_"I said I wasn't good at this!" Woolsey answers._

* * *

 

Argo dropped the marble.

"...Was a Distraction."

It bounces off the floor, and half-way across the city in the Jumper bay, where AR-2 and Jade Jackson were sitting cozy, Jade barks out a single "NOW!"

Mallek oh so casually pecks the ENTER key on his keyboard.

The Puddle Jumper's shield springs to life around it, and simultaneously, the shield generators all across the city suddenly activate, creating an off colored, blue hued bubble above the City of Atlantis.

"Talr-!" Cetus never got the chance to report the unsual behavior to Talus, because a second later, the City's shield colapsed down across all of Atlantis in a single swoop- dusting every Replicator within its halls.

_**PVWOOOOOOOOOO!** _

And so it was, that Talus and his Replicator goons all colapsed into piles of silver dust before the captured humans.

"Good ol' Plan B," John grins. "Works every time. 'Scuse me a sec." He and Ronon exit the cell and go to secure the perimeter.

"W...What just happened?" Woolsey asks.

"Well, you see," you are now Mikari Aiikho, and you crack a very wide grin. "We just turned the shield into a giant Anti-Replicator Weapon."

"I knew that!" O'neill says.

"You Knew!?" Woolsey asks, shocked.

"Well, I've seen Carter crack enough codes to know that Jolinar there was faking in her place," O'neill motions at the younger clone of his fiance and the Tok'ra within her.

"See, told ya," Jimmyy nudges her arm.

 **"I know, you told me about him not buying it,"** she answers.

"She was faking? I bought it completely," Woolsey admits.

"I believe that was the point," Teyla tells him.

"...You used me?" Woolsey asks, flabberghasted.

"You're alive, and you're welcome," Ronon says as he re-enters the room. "We're clear, by the way."

"Okay, we've got to get to the control room and contact the Daedalus before they arrive," you declare. "Let's go."

As you all start filtering out of the cell, you hear General O'neill comfort Woolsey.

"See, Rich? You were good for something after all."

"I... Thanks." he sounds only mildly comforted by the fact you just used him as a misinformation source.

* * *

 

You are now RODNEY MCKAY, and you perk up from your barely-focused on and severely-depressing thought experiment of how to destroy Atlantis when KLEINMAN reports to COLONEL CALDWELL: "Sir, I have an incoming message from Atlantis."

"Atlantis? As in Replicators?" Colonel Caldwell asks.

"No, Sir, it has Colonel Sheppard's IDC," Kleinman answers.

"Open a channel," Caldwell orders. "Colonel Sheppard, I'd like to believe this is you, but that authorization code was discontinued when you stayed behind in Pegasus."

 _"Well it IS me!"_ Sheppard answers, annoyed.

"Puting that aside," Caldwell asks, "how are you even aware of what's going on with Atlantis and the Replicators anyways?"

 _"That would be me,"_ MIkari Aiikho suddenly interjects. _"And the rest of my team. Also. There's this."_

A pause.

_"Hey! Caldwell! General Jack O'neill here, with TWO L'S! That Valid enough for you?"_

"...You all may have been compromised, you realize?" You ask. "I can't just take your words at face value."

 _"We've disabled Atlantis' shields, Steven,"_ MIkari reports. _"Send down a team in hazmat suits if you need to. We'll explain everything when you get here."_

Caldwell sighs. "Get a team of marines ready to beam down."

"Sir," Kleinman acknowledges.

"I'll go," you volunteer immediately.

"...Yeah, why not," Caldwell dismisses you with a wave of his hand. "Go see that they're who they say they are, Doctor."

You hurry off immediately.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: AUGUST 15TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 02/22/0006.**

You are once again Mikari Aiikho, days after a stressful takeback of everything you loved and cared for, and you stand in your empty office.

"Getting all settled in?" General O'neill asks, entering the room behind you.

"Hah, Easily, although the Replicator's decorating tastes are a bit, ah...." You wince. "Honestly, I'm going to have to repaint the walls. I am NOT a fan of this shade of yellow right now." You admit, "Still, they did a fine job on rebuilding Stargate Operations back to its original form otherwise. Can't even tell it was a blast crater a few days ago."

"That they did," O'neill nods.

"How did you check out?" You ask.

"Well, Beckett, Fraiser, and Kanaya all cleared me and I don't have any little tiny robots floating around in my brain, or bloodstream, which is always nice to hear." He answers.

"So it is," you nod.

You both look around the room, and the city's gate room, with no small measure of concern.

"So." You start. "What now?"

"Me personally? A Jumper ride home to the SGC, followed by a hot shower, followed by a hot coffee, followed by a Hot Carter," he pauses. "That sounded better in my head."

"I can imagine," you chuckle. "But, I was thinking a bit more selfishly. What are the chances on the Expedition returning to Atlantis?"

"If it were up to me? You'd stay," O'neill says. "As it is, I did hear back from Commander, uh, what's her face who took over the place. She sat the whole thing out in Aincrad the whole time, and given how few of her people survived the Replicator incursion... Apparently the Tira crew decided they'd rather settle in Aincrad for the time being rather than come back to Atlantis. Apparently, they'd rather not live in a mass grave. Go figure."

"So... we can stay?" You ask.

"Aincrad, Alternia, the Tok'ra, the Jaffa... you guys are coming back for sure," O'neill says. "Earth is... a bit more touchy. It all depends on how Woolsey manages the IOA when we get back. If they throw a fit... well... I hear Teal'c and Egeria are planning on denying Earth access to Atlantis if the IOA tries to pull any shit like they did before. And if that's the case... well.. either they bend or they break."

"I think I might have an idea about that," you say. "If the IOA breaks, I mean."

"Oh?" O'neill asks, raising an eyebrow.

"The other three members of the Expedition Alliance can absorb Earth's members of the Expedition into their ranks, and have them continue to work here," you say. "I certainly think Okurii'll be willing to go the extra mile."

"...Teal'c and Egeria too, probably," O'neill nods. "...Yeah. I think that'll get the IOA to play nice quite nicely."

"Then I think I speak for all of us when I say thank you very much," you say.

"Hey, it's your idea," he says. "Besides, you came back to rescue me."

"Oh yes, yes we did," you grin.

"Of course, next time, consider bringing My Carter along with you. I just KNOW I'm going to get an earfull when I get back," a happy smile crosses his face, despite that slightly annoyed sounding sentence. "God, not even married yet, and here I am Wanting to get yelled at for getting caught in something dangerous on my own."

"Well, Jack," you say, "that's how you know you've got someone you don't want to be without."

"What about you, Mikari?" he asks. "Got anyone like that, yet?"

"Hmm... No, not any one person as of yet" you answer, gazing down at the Stargate. "I've got a City full of amazing people who are dying to come home, though."

"...Well, that checks out," he glances at the Stargate as well. "Welcome home."

"Thanks."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> *AAAAH*  
> What.  
> A.  
> LONG.  
> EPISODE.  
> *AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH*
> 
> But it's DONEEEE.
> 
> Wheee.
> 
> Politics. Those are a pain locally, let alone internationally, and intergalacticly. That's really all there is to say on the matter.
> 
> Damned Replicators.


	49. MINISODE: Unprofessional Courtesy.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jolinar Muses.

**EARTH DATE: AUGUST 15TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 02/22/0006.**  
  
You are now JOLINAR, the one who'd stuck with Sam through and through without involving time travel and other such body jumping shenanigans as your other self has performed.

Regardless, and needless to say, life had taken an interesting path for you, you muse as Samantha and Jack cuddled in bed later that evening after he returned from Atlantis.

Oh, there had been some shouting, yelling angrily at the universe for causing such shenanigans, and then a lot of kissing, and other such activities.

You'd proceeded to recede to a private corner of the mindscape you and Sam shared, and considered the events that had happened over the last few months, and you retrace those thoughts again, because...

Well, you've got nothing else to think about.

Damara went to an insane amount of trouble to literally shut down as many instances of Lord English as she possibly could and nearly got her entire plan derailed by some interloper from another dimension who seemed to take offense for some gods forsake unknown reason.

Who the hell even knows what happened to the multiverse during that point in time.

Then there was the Replicators somehow tracking down Atlantis' location and causing trouble there, and now the Expedition was slated to start moving back in soon...

Sometimes, you just wish someone would cut through all the bullshit and just let the world make sense for a change.

Well, at least Jack and Sam have eachother now and don't have to deal with all of that messed up military chain of command nonsense.

At least there's that.

And speaking of, they're starting up again. Bluh. You don't begrudge them for catching up on lost time, or rushing that catching up because of a near death experience, but you did have some things you wanted to do today besides mull around inside your own mindscape for a few hours.

So... what do you loop your thoughts around now for?  
  
Hmm...  
  
Oh, there's a good question. Did the Ancients leave and Ghosts behind on Atlantis, and would the Alternians be able to see them?  
  
Yes, now there's a question to muse over heavily for another good hour or two.


	50. SGA:03X12: Echoes.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Aradia hosts a Corpse Party.

[ **O < \--- STARGATE: ATLANTIS --- >O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0)

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: AUGUST 18TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 02/25/0006.**

You are now Aradia Megido, and you frown as you peer down the night time halls of the City of Atlantis.

It took only two days to get the basics of everything packed up and brought back to Atlantis, and to get people moved back... there are still those who are on their way back from further away. 

And there's still lots of equipment to bring back, too... but...

But none of that is your concern.

Your concern is the spectral ghost of an Ancient Woman reliving her death in the hallway during the middle of the night.

She screams silently, gripping at a hand that isn't even in her head, and oh does she scream.

Your Rust Blooded Psychic abilities can sense her torment and screaming.

At first, there was nothing but a sense of unease.

Now... Now you know you have a job to do.

You approach the Ghost of the Ancient Woman, and place a hand on her shoulder.

"It's okay," you tell her, extending a slight pulse of your psychic powers. "It's over. You can rest now."

The woman stills, her hands flexing over nothing, as her eyes drift towards you...

Then, she fades away as you allow her Death Echo to pass on as was intended.

One down, only the Replicators knew how many corpses they made.

* * *

 

You sweep through Atlantis like the Grim Reaper of Earth, or the Handmaid of Alternia.

No, not the one who did all that shit in Milky Way recently, the Handmaid of the Alternia of your world line.

You pass by the ghosts of Ancients who died during the Replicator invasion, and you send their echoes on to the next life.

The Cycle continues, as their energy moves on to become something greater.

Unlike Alternians whose psychic potential leaves them able to maintain thought, humans, and these Ancients as well, don't leave very strong echoes. They live the same loops over and over again.

You've seen bits of this in Aincrad, even. You've visited the mass graves of the fallen Castles, and helped their spirits move on.

It was easier there, and also more tiring and energy expending. Easier in that they were all gathered everywhere at once. Harder, tiring, in that you were moving so many of them along in a single shot.

...You come to a hallway and a room where everything colapsed in a sudden strike from above, colapsing the ceiling.

The ghosts cower and shriek within your ability to see them...

You stop the ghostly echoes of falling debris, and you tell them they are free to move on to safety.

It's a double edged sentence. The ghosts realize not that they're dead, and as they flee for 'safety' in Atlantis, they move on to the next life.

Damara Megido.

A woman now a Grub whose end goal was cleaning up the mess of Lord English Splinters lying about.

A woman who shared your name, and who shared your DNA. You finally had an idea about who stole your hairbrush when the genetics test came back with you as an overwhelming 70% genetic donor match.

Does it run in the Megido line to witness the cleansing of such great messes? Was there a Megido of some name witnessing from the other side of that rift that Mordred mentioned? Watching as that Green Sun turned into a Black Hole, and another instance of Lord English was consumed by it?

Perhaps.

You wonder what she saw. What she believed in.

...Was it worth it for her, you wonder, to witness such a grand undoing?

...You have a different purpose tonight.

You continue to sweep through the city, wings flitting behind you, spilling fairy dust along the ground in a simple trail, marking where you've been.

If anyone asks you tomorrow, you'll simply tell them you were restless.

You come across another Rust Blooded Troll in the hallways- Rhubee Xaolon, of the Daedalus, looking shell shocked.

"What is it?" You almost ask, but you follow her gaze into a room.

"Ah," you say instead. "I see."

"Why?" Rhubee asks, gazing at the myriad pile of ghosts huddling in the corner- one after another being yanked away by an invisible force, and screaming as they grasp for their heads... and then fall silent, before being thrown aside by that same invisible force.

"Why did they have to die?" You guess.

She nods.

"Pointless revenge," you surmise, entering the room, and interposing yourself into their death loop- forcing it to reset.  
Before the first can be killed, you grasp a sense of where the Replicator should have been, and utterly destroy that fragment of force in the loop.

"Go," you tell the spirits. "Go and be free."

They run with glee and hope in their dead eyes.

You look to Rhubee, and she sniffs.

"How... do you do it so calmly?" She asks.

"...Because that's the least I can do for them," you tell her.

You continue your night time tour.

Rhubee follows.

Here and there, you come across more ghosts... 

Here and there, you set them free...

Here and there, you come across a few other Alternians of the Rust blooded pursuasion, as they, too, work to free ghosts from their torment.

Good. Maybe by the time the sun rises, Atlantis's restless ghosts will all be put to rest.

It's better to nip echoes like these in the bud before their deaths become permanently afixed and begin to loop stronger and stronger in their torment.

Better to do it before their spirits become visible to anyone other than Alternians with the Gift of Sight.

Oh, a small section of Atlantis' Alternian population may be sleep deprived come morning, buit that will be a small price to pay compared to the peace you've granted to these spirits as they depart to another realm.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: AUGUST 19TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 02/26/0006.**

"Here," Diemen Xicali offers a spectral hotdog he manifested with his meager psychic powers to a younger Ancient who looked barely out of his human teens. "You can have my hotdog if you want."

The ghost nods, and accepts it, before passing on.

You give the chef a thumbs up as he wipes tears from his eyes.

Rhubee says nothing, instead kneeling to one of the last stragglers in the room. You go to take care of the other remnant left behind as well.

"It's okay... you can go to sleep now," Rhubee says to the woman, even as the sun begins to rise.

The woman smiles to Rhubee, and whispers, "Thank you..." Before fading away.

"Go now, be at peace," you tell your own ghost, and they fade away.

The room now is empty of ghosts, as the sun rises.

"Oh, Glub, that was... so much work," Rhubee winces, stretching her arms out.

"You did good tonight," you tell her, smiling sadly.

"Thank you, Aradia," Rhubee stands from where she was kneeling, and turns to look at you. "I... I hope we never have to do something like this again."

"We can hope, and dream," Diemen says, gazing out at the ocean outside. "But as long as those Replicators are out there, and the Wraith are keen to kill all that they can...  there are always going to be echoes here in Pegasus. Echoes we might have to put to rest."

Rhubee sniffs. "I know, I just... I just wish we could have done something more to prevent all of this."

"Sometimes, we do everything perfect, and it all fails anyways, Rhubee," you tell the girl. "Sometimes, all that's left to do is pick up the pieces after."

A few hours later, as Atlantis properly awakens, nobody says a word about what happened to anybody else.

It was just a small secret between the few of you Alternian Death Seers who were up and about during the night.

Small, private moments, sending the dead along to a better place.

There's nothing really important to report about that, is there?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. PESTERQUEST is going to be a thing. AKA: Friendsim 2. Apparently it's going to feature the Homestuck kids and Trolls. Properly. 
> 
> ...I have no words for this development, save that: I can only hope that Aradia's route will be as interesting to experience as this was to write.
> 
> It'd been mentioned in the canon Atlantis episode that Teyla thought the illusions they were seeing may have been Ancient Ghosts killed by the Replicators.
> 
> ...Well, I ran with it, because I didn't have any psychic echo location whales on Aqua Magna to work with...
> 
> Speaking of those whales, Lantea's population will be fine for now. That canonical solar flare incident won't even happen for a few more years in this time line. Atlantis will be back home before then... I can assure you on that much. ;)


	51. SG1:10X16: Bad Guys?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Thank goodness for Captchalogue Fetch Modii/Sylladexes.

**EARTH DATE: AUGUST 26TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 03/05/0006.**  
  
Your name is Mordred Pendragon, and you have a lot of regrets right now.

Cassandra and Jude had returned to their vacation not too long after everything that happened with Damara and Corinth City, and were still on vacation when this mission came up.

"The Clava Thessara Infinitas, The Key to Infinite Treasure," Jonas had summarized. "A Cache full of Ancient Wealth and Weapons." 

"I thought you figured it was a hoax?" Vala had asked.

"I did, but, I was bored, and went through the research Athena did, and realized that there was some solid data, and after cross-referencing her research, and our Gate Address Library... I was able to get an address." Jonas had smiled.

As one of those regrets, you're really wishing they had been here to tell you what a bad idea it was. 

Jonas had already sent a MALP to P4M-328, and the images sent back were disturbingly... wrong.

The Goa'uld hieroglyphs on the wall were all out of order and from different dynasties, and they didn't make any sense.

Vala assumed it was a code, Mitchel agreed, Landry gave the go ahead to investigate.

And you honestly didn't say a thing because, honestly, you were bored and could have used the distraction. But still, as you stepped through the gate and entered that room, something felt oddly familiar, nagging at you from your first days back on the Mortal Plane in this galaxy.

Then, you and Mitchel heard music, and went to investigate...

It all clicked into place the moment you and Mitchel wandered off and found *display cases* full of artifacts, and were able to peer over a balcony railing into the lower level, where there was a party in full swing.

You were in a Museum.

Your second regret was not noticing the anachronistic deviations from the photos for what they were- after all, you'd raided a Museum to get Clarent back the first time. And boy, isn't that a third regret not at all related to the current situation.

"Pack it up!" Mitchel had ordered. "We're pulling the plug! Now!"

"It's not a tomb, it's a Museum!" you added on. "And they're holding a party."

And Jonas suddenly understood why the Hieroglyphs were jumbled up, and Vala blinked in surprise. 

"A party? Can we go?" Vala asked.

"This is a first contact situation," Mitchel shook his head. "And it looks like they're modern Earth Levels of development, with the Stargate in a Museum! Which means they DON'T know what it is they have their hands on here."

"So you'd do it like Langara," Jonas summarized. "Radio through the MALP, arrange first contact if they're open to visitors."

"Yep!" Mitchel nodded, and started dialing the DHD.

The only thing that happened is the plates suddenly popping loose from the pressure, and dropping to the ground with a resin sounding clink.

You grab at the top of the DHD platform and lift it immediately, revealing the inside to be nothing but a hollow prop.

And there's your fourth regret. 

Not Checking the DHD first thing upon arrival.

You all swore emotionally identical, but verbally different swears at the same time.

* * *

 

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw)

* * *

 

And that brings you to the present.

"If they found a gate, they found the DHD, Right?" Mitchel asks. "Or, enough to build a convincing replica, so- stuff should be around here right?"

"If they had the DHD, they'd put it with the Gate, you'd think," Jonas says. "I think we're stuck."

"No we're not!" Vala suddenly exclaims. "Sylladexes! Check your sylladexes! Did we bring an emergency dial out kit? What about a power source for manually dialing??"

You quickly check everything you've got for the devices needed to dial out remotely...

And it's extremely, EXTREMELY lucky that you still have Excaliber's hilt in your Sylladex, and that Vala, for whatever reason, had two sealed packages of Earth Car

Battery to Battery Jumper Cables.

It doesn't take too long to pry off the damaged blade and expose the power core within the weapon. It still glows and pulses with energy.

Really, it was the blade itself that couldn't handle the sheer strain of everything you put it through. Merlin designed Excaliber to be practically shatter resistant in everything else about it. Moving parts are the most prone to failure area imaginable, and so he over designed it to not fall apart... Except for the damned blade. THAT part he must have skimped out on or... well.

Whatever. it doesn't matter. 

Vala connects the battery of Excaliber to the Stargate via the jumper cambles, and then she and Mitchel begin double-teaming the Gate's inner ring to spin it into place for Earth's Address..

The first chevron locks into place, and the room shudders with the impact.

"Aw, hell," Mitchel grimaces. "Jonas, Mordred, take guard positions incase anybody felt that! Zats only!"

You and Jonas take up a guarding position at the entrance to the Gate Exhibit, and you wait as you hear the Gate slowly spin to the next address.

"Shit... this is going to be cutting it close," you whisper. 

The second Chevron locks- the room shudders again. This time, you hear the party music from outside stop. 

Concerned mumbling comes from the party downstairs.

You hear a loudspeaker chime on:

"Sorry, Folks, Security insists we stay put while they check the building for any signs of assault from outside forces. So, please sit tight and-"

The Third Chevron Locks. Damn it, everything shakes worse.

"They took out the shake suppressors," Jonas guesses.

"Probably," you wince.

"Alright- that one up and too the left!" Vala calls. 

You take your radio and start cycling through frequencies...

 _"-curity teams 2 through 5, start checking the exhibits,"_ and you find one being used. 

You glance back at the Gate, and hiss- "Dial Faster!!"

"We're going as fast as we can!" Mitchel hisses back, managing to get Chevron Four locked.

The room trembles and shakes, and the radio buzzes- "Shit, it has to be the Rebels trying something. We're nowhere near a fault line."

_"First Floor Sweep Starting."_

_"Second Floor Sweep Starting."_ Shit, you're on the second floor, aren't you?

"What about the MALP?" You ask.

"We'll leave it," Jonas shakes his head. "I don't think we'll have time to get it through the Gate at this rate."

Chevron Five Locks- everything begins shaking continuously. God damn it, why do the Stargates have to DO this when they aren't properly secured?

_"Converge on Second Floor! Move Move Move!"_

God damn it, you ready your Zat, as does Jonas.

C'mon, Mitchel, Vala, hurry it up!

You hear footsteps rushing down the hallways outside from both directions.

You shut off your radio and motion for Jonas to fall back behind the DHD.

You hide behind a nearby support pillar.

Chevron Six Locks, the room trembles so badly Vala shrieks, and falls flat on her butt.

"I hear something! In the Ring Room! GO GO GO!" Someone shouts out loud.

Damn it!

The first of a wave of security guards come rushing into view.

You and Jonas fire off snapshot Zat shots- stunning the guards and sending them tumbling to the ground. 

Damn it.

"Almost! GOT IT!" Mitchel yells out as he rotates the Gate's inner ring just enough to reach the final glyph.

"I'll get the door!" Vala calls out, getiting off her butt and grabbing her GDO device, punching in the code and preparing to send it.

You and Jonas continue Zatting guards, and-

_**CHATHWUNK!** _

_**WAAAA WAAAA!!!** _

_**KAWOOOOOOOOOOOSH!** _

The blue burst of light that fills the room is all the stun lock needed for the next wave of guards.

"GO GO GO!" Vala Yells as soon as she's sent the code, and then dives through.

Mitchel takes up zat shots to cover you and Jonas as you rush for the gate.

Jonas dives through, and You hesitate to grab Excaliber's hilt off the floor, grabbing for the cables and-

Mitchel goes through- You snap off the wires as you push through the eventhorizon.

You wind up tumbling to a halt on the SGC Gate Ramp, and groan in pain from how rough a landing you took compared to the others. Your shoulder stings harshly, something fierce.

The Gate shut down immediately after you came through from a lack of power.

You glance at Excaliber's core, and see it still glowing softly. Good. It's still-

You make the mistake of sighing in relief- then cry out in pain because- Damn it- you wrenched your shoulder on that landing somehow. It... it really hurts. God damn it, what did you do?

A Medic team comes in soon enough, but by then you're about ready to pass out from the pain.

* * *

 

Some unknown time later, you wake up in the SGC infirmary, surprised to find Mitchel sitting nearby, reading a book.

"Wh... what happened?" You ask.

MItchel smiles, and captchalogues his book. "Welcome back to the land of the conscious, Mordred. As for what happend... You hit the ramp hard enough to break your right shoulder."

"Ow," you grimace. You check said arm- and it's in a large sling. You can't feel much of anything from it right now. Probably drugs or something doing that. "How long was I out?"

"Couple hours for the surgery, couple hours for waking up," Mitchel decaptchalogues a bag, and offers it. "Here. I had time to go home and make cookies."

"Thanks," you say, taking the bag with your left hand, and carefully holding it shut. You're not hungry just yet, so you'll save it for when you are... "So... what about the world we left?"

"We tried reaching out to explain what happened," Mitchel says. "They answered in kind by saying they didn't believe us, called us Rebel Spies, and shot up the MALP.

Morbid curiosity had us try dialing in again a little while later, but we couldn't get a lock on their Gate."

"...They buried it, I guess," you guess... You guess? You just... What?

Okay, you're a little loopy right now.

You groan. "How long before Kanaya comes and heals me the rest of the way?"

"By Doc's orders, not 'til next week," Mitchel answers. "Apparently Carolyn wants to 'teach you a lesson' about disconnecting a Stargate's power source right before traveling through it."

"Geeze," you frown. "That's a bit stupid."

"Nah, it's all part of a New Rule" Mitchel delcares. "Landry and O'neill both signed off on it. SG Teams are now NOT going offworld without atleast one team member carrying a remote dialing kit for the Stargates, and disposable ones at that so no more using sentimental objects to power up a Stargate and snatching it before you dive through the wormhole. We're lucky you got thrown at speed rather than stuck inside the gate's buffer."

"That's happened?" You ask.

"Teal'c, once," Mitchel answers.

"...Well, Shit." you close your eyes. "I can't imagine that'd have been easy to get him out."

"It wasn't, from what I read," Mitchel says. "Anyways. Here, I grabbed this when they wheeled you off." And then he decaptchalogues Excaliber's hilt and hands it to you.

You reflexively Captchalogue it, and you trace its path through the air into the Sylladex box on the bedside table next to you.

"Thanks," you say. "I'm not sure what I'd have done if I'd lost it. It's the last thing I have of Mom left..."

"So, you know..." Mitchel began. "I was actually thinking about that."

"You? Thinking?" You joke. "This oughta be good."

"Well, you know how Corinth's timeline branched from ours relatively recently, right?" Mitchel pauses. "Well, we don't know if Venjix ever breached their Earth's Avalon cache."

"Where Mom was held in suspended animation," you realize. 

"It's a long shot, but... once you were healed up, and since we already know the solutions to everything... We could follow Cassie and Jude's lead and go on vacation... by going to Corinth's version of Avalon and see if we could find Artoria's pod there."

"I'll try not to get my hopes up," you say, very much trying not to do that. "But... I think that sounds like a plan."

You know it won't be the same... But...

It's a chance.

A chance you'd never have gotten again otherwise. 

A chance you didn't want to think about because what if you were wrong?

...No more running at this point. You'll have to figure it out one way or the other, and if she IS alive in that other world...

She deserves a third chance at living again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This whole thing could have been avoided if Cassandra and Jude hadn't gone back to finish their earlier vacation for atleast another week- that way then they could have applied for the refresh of vacation time that came with the overturn of the Month and taken much longer vacations.
> 
> Oh well! It all worked out in the end, right?


	52. SGA:03X13/INTERMISSION: Irresponsible

**EARTH DATE: AUGUST 31ST, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 03/10/0006.**

Your name is DANIEL JACKSON and you pause out of the Gate, peering around the entire Atlantis Gate Room.

If you didn't know any better, you'd say they just painted the walls and called it a day.

"Welcome back, Dad," Jade greets, and you smile and nod.

"Glad to be back. Just sorry it took so long to get here." You shake your head. "You would not believe how much Abydos' Marriage Politics have evolved over the last few years. It wasn't so complicated back when Sha're and I got married..." 

"I'm just glad you were able to help sort things out," Jade smiles. "Sarah's already got your room set back up the way it was."

"Speaking of rooms, you settled back in yet?" You ask as the two of you start walking away from the Gate Room.

"Yep! Same room and everything, and it's nice to be home," Jade sighs. "I just wish that John and the rest of his team weren't so itching to go out on so many missions. I feel like they've been bouncing around everywhere so fast it's insane."

"So they're offworld right now?" You ask.

"Yeah, checking on rumors of a village with some super invincible hero," Jade shakes her head. "We figure it's either more Rift Energy powers, or someone telling a fib."

"Hopefully the former over the later," you say.

You both round a corner into a hallway, just in time to avoid a small gaggle of Alternian Scientists muttering furiously over some lab in the flooded section of the city.

"The Ancients turned a LOT of things on that didn't need to be turned on," Jade elaborates. "We've been busy shutting down them down in tiers of most power intensive to lowest power intensive. Stupidly, it looks like the Replicators are the ones that made it impossible for us to shut things down remotely. They took some resources away from the flooded sections of the city to foist repairs on the Star Drive the second time. Though, I suppose that's our own fault, really. But still, means we can't just go in and remote deactivate everything. Have to do it manually."

"Ah, fate, as it bites us in the rear for daring to fight against it," you wax poetic.

You both round a corner, and continue down a stairwell.

"Yeah, it's annoying, but, at least the Stardrive's... mostly operational."

"Mostly??"

"We're back to the old problem of the thing just not booting up despite everything reading in the green," Jade shrugs, shaking her head. "Anyways. We're dealing."

"Speaking of the Replicators, did we ever find that Ancient I saw?" You ask. "I'm pretty sure that jerk is the one who summoned them here."

"No, actually," Jade shakes her head. "But then again, we asked Cassandra before she went back on vacation and she said we didn't have to worry about him causing future trouble- but his past actions were going to keep causing us some more trouble in the future- so I get the impression that the Ancient Ascended Asshole got themselves blown up by the Sangraal when they fired it off."

"Well, at least there's that," you frown. "Wonder what made them do it?"

"Calling the Replicators? Who knows. Probably fear or greed. Envy maybe? Who knows." Jade shakes her head. "Doesn't matter, really."

"I suppose not."

* * *

 

Your name is Argo Lalonde, and you stare, shocked, as a few hours after John's team returned from their mission, you read their report to Mikari after she herself finished reading it.

Lucian Lovin had struck again, somehow getting his hands on an Ancient Shield Device and pretending to be a super hero with it. The coward had hired some of Cowen's old Genii bodyguards who had been 'exiled' to pretend to be "Ruffians" and attack a village which he would "Defend."

When he failed to pay them what they were owed, and Cowen's men had seen AR-1 in the village, they'd decided to cut their losses and called in backup from Kolya's group of exiles, who had shown up and taken the village hostage.

He then attempted to kidnap Teyla and Doctor Beckett, who had gone along that mission for some reason... and that was a decision that had not ended well for Kolya.

In fact, it had ended with a bullet hole in his chest from John's Side-arm, and an evern larger hole in his back from Ronon's hand-held flung power blasts- a trait that had caught the man off guard.

And Lucian had vanished into the wind yet again. 

The coward was making a habit of this, annoyingly enough.

What an irresponsible fool!

Atleast John is alive. Atleast your friends are alive. 

The same can't be said about Kolya.

His men were properly remanded into Sora's custody not too long after John was able to get to the Gate and radio for backup. 

And Kolya's body?

Sora had ordered it flung into an opening Stargate so as to ensure that man could never come back again.

Before died, Kolya had openly admitted that he was doing this to seek revenge on John. Why? What insanity had drove him to this point?

...But it doesn't matter. 

It's one less problem in the Galaxy for you all to deal with.

One less problem... considering there are still Replicators about. Considering there's the Wraith. Considering there's Ford.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

So Now What?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Filling out the rest of the week:  
> SG1:10X17: Cavernous  
> INTERMISSION: Oblivious  
> SGA:03X14/MINISODE: The Shield of Rodney
> 
> Next Week:  
> SGA:03X15/MINISODE: The Waiting Game.  
> SGA:03X16: After The Ark  
> SG1:10X18: Family Ties.
> 
> And then we're going to start something... a little bit different for the next two episodes. The following two episodes SG1:10X20: Unending, and SGA:03X17: Sunday, take place on the same day, and will be alternating their respective Episode Acts as separate chapters for a little bit. Thus, wrapping out next week will be the PROLOGUES for each episode, Respectively, and the next week will follow through those episodes. 
> 
> Why not post them as whole chapters? Avoid the bloat? I wanted to do something unique for these two chapters. It's the send off for SG-1's canonical Series Runtime, and it's an episode of Atlantis that, if you're familiar with the show, well... you know what happened originally, and I want to hold a tiny bit of suspense hostage. Just a bit. 
> 
> Anyways, what's there to say about this chapter?
> 
> ...Not much. I mean, I could've done a more thorough adaptation of the episode... but my interest in it just wasn't there. I don't really like Lucian's character, and the Kolya thing... honestly, he doesn't deserve the spotlight focus on his death. It felt like I would be giving him far too much attention for his acting out.


	53. SG1:10X17: Cavernous

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mordred heads to Avalon.

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 3RD, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 03/13/0006.**

The Astro Megaship emerged through the Corinth City rift, and took off for the opening in the Dome over Corinth City, rocketing out into low orbit to make the trip faster.

Your name is Tegiri Kalbur, and you frown as you watch all of a ruined Earth's Atlantic Ocean pass by beneath you.

God, everything was just so messed up. 

Nobody had found who had sent Venjix Grinders into that rift yet- but they had seen them launch from the Mirrorgate thing into the vortex. So it was likely that Venjix had been onboard that thing when it blew... But did that mean he was totally gone now? Dead and gone properly? Or did he escape yet again?

This whole planet, ruined by Venjix like that, not a few years after Apophis had devastated parts of it... 

And then there's the strange sensations regarding Mordred himself being here on the Astro Megaship.

You glance over at the former ship thief staring out the front windshield just the same, and you remember your fight. Swords clashing, the breaking off of the Megaship's wings...

The man before you, dressed in SGC BDUs is vastly different from the enraged knight from all those... eh,, screw it, you'll go with the cliche "all those many moons ago."

There's a different kind of tension in his body. More focused, less angry...

It reminds you of someone afraid of what they're about to find.

There's also the anachronistic difference of spotting the fact that Mordred is listening to an MP3 player- you can spot the cables for the earbuds stringing out of a pocket to his ears- and hear him humming along to...

Wait. Seriously? Isn't that the new song Chixie debuted recently?

Huh. Mordred didn't strike you as the Chixie Roixmr fan. But hey, shows what you know based off of a horrible first impression and barely any interaction after what Vriska was calling a Redemption Arc. 

If you were the kind of person who believed that your life followed Anime Tropes, you'd say that Mordred was one evil twin confrontation away from a completed Redemption Arc, but, hell, what are the chances of THAT happening?

* * *

 

[ **O <\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw)

* * *

 

The Astro Megaship pulled over what should have been the AVALON COMPLEX in BRITAIN. 

Unfortunately, instead of a famous historical landmark, they found a massive, silent, Venjix factory.

And so it was that they had to delay for long enough for The Whale Zord to fly over and join them with the core trio of the RPM Rangers.

And so, the two Zords landed, and their crews went to investigate the facility.

You are now Mordred, and as SG-1- that is to say, you, Mitchel, and Vala, with Kanaya Maryam visiting from Atlantis because of her ownership of the Shaper Crystal- took position behind the RPM Rangers as they lead the way through the facility, you can't help but feel... unnerved.

The hallways are full of slumped over, deactivated Grinders- or perhaps just slumbering ones.

The Blue Ranger- Flynn McAllister- made sure to tag each Grinder they came across with an "EMP Sticker" he'd designed to keep the deactivated bots, well, deactivated.

"I have to admit, this is a tad creepy," Vala remarks. "Bunch of robots, just... lying there. Dead to the world."

"Believe me, I'd feel a lot better just Morphin' and scrappin'em," Flynn remarks, "but Doctor K says that we should keep this place as inactive as possible to start with. If we can secure this place and figure out if there's a Venjix backup or who knows what here... well..."

"We'll save the what ifs for whatever this facility was actually doing," Scott Truman, the Red Ranger, says. "Worst case, we end up having to destroy it."

"Hopefully it won't come to that," Mitchel says. 

It doesn't take too much longer for you to find a main production facility- an assembly line for robot skeletons and other such monsters.

A half assembled monster rests in the center of everything. Pieces of Armor lay half-assembled and half-free-floating in claws that were moving to put things in place.

"Well, that's definitely a Venjix Attack Bot alright," The Yellow Ranger- Summer Landsdown- remarks. "But... it's a completely different style from what I'm familiar with."

"Same... it looks more like a Knight than anything else," Flynn says.

"...Wait, a knight?" Vala peers at the helmeted head of the beast. "...Mitchel, does that thing look familiar?"

"Aw, hell," he groans. "Avalon's Black Knight."

"How much do you want to bet its fighting A.I. was programmed into it?" Vala asks.

"Sucker's bet," Mitchel says.

"So Venjix got into Avalon," you grimace. "How the fuck did he find it?"

That's when you hear a clank of metal from the floor above- "NO!"- and all eyes dart upwards.

There, standing on a railing having just exited a hallway, peering down at you all from up on high is a red-eyed teenager who reminds you a lot of Hal Strider in some ways...

"Damn it! Of course you Rangers would come here!" And then- he turns and runs.

"...Was it just me or did that sound like-?" Summer starts.

"Venjix," Scott grunts. "Let's Ranger Up."

Out came their cellphone morphers, the little cute cell key things, and they combined the two.

_**"R.P.M.!" They yell out. "GET IN GEAR!"** _

With a trio flash of light, the Rangers suit up.

"We'll chase after that kid," Scott tells you. "You three secure this lab and find out what the hell he's been making!"

And just like that, the Rangers run off at speeds faster than most humans can manage normally. You guess you could get similar with Clarent or Excaliber, but...

"Let's get to work," Mitchel orders.

Right.

Time to find out what happened here.

* * *

 

Venjix RAN.

It wasn't fast enough.

He could hear the stomp of the Ranger's boots, and yelling, from behind him.

Without his neural links to anything- he couldn't activate the Grinders. He couldn't activate the facility again- not by thought. Not by command.

He'd been trying to bring everything online again MANUALLY. But he'd never designed this place to be brought online manually.

It only made sense in retrospect that Damara had given him the location of this hidden facility. Somehow. It had been too well hidden otherwise.

The defense systems and the KNIGHT were... they were something else, to be sure. He still wasn't sure how to access the TREASURE hidden within AVALON.

He'd been using this place- its resources in cloaking technology- to hide it as his backup plan.

His fail safe in case he failed, somehow, to take over Corinth City and needed to start over. His backup incase somehow, the Rangers raided his Palace before he completed the Dimensional Shift project.

He'd shut it down because he was sure he would win.

What an idiotic move.

Ironic, only in being put in a mortal body, that he could see the folly of his mechanical plans. His machine-precision certainty was anything but.

He would admit, Damara had given him a gift, in that sense.

Now that he thought with the same hardware as the foolish humans, he realized that he was more the fool.

Oh, he came close. He came so close... but if he'd failed to develop the Dimensional Shift technology, he'd have been crushed beneath the Command Tower and then...

And then what?

Where would he have been?

It was impossible to say.

And so Venjix ran for the one route he had left to his disposal- the Cavern Below.

He'd never defeated the Knight. He'd planned the Attack Bot designed in its image to go and distract it- to defeat it. It was still active down there in the Cavern below.

He would have to risk the gamble that the Rangers would fight it and either win or be defeated.

But then there was SG-1 to consider.

What were they here for? Checking this world's version of this facility, no doubt. Damara had explained it when he confronted her about it once.

Artoria Pendragon had been held here, somewhere, once upon a time. He'd seen her die in the Rift. Knew she was dead.

If Mordred really was Artoria's child, then-

Venjix tripped on the stairs, and tumbled down their depths.

He landed at the bottom, unconscious, and was unaware of the Black Knight who now stood above him, considering its next moves.

* * *

 

The RPM Rangers arrived to see the scene, standing atop the stairs, they saw the Knight raising its sword to impale the figure of Venjix down at the base of those stairs.

"ZIP CHARGER!" Summer threw out her unique weapon, and it smashed through the Holographic Knight- stunning it, and forcing it to recalibrate. "What the- It went Through it!?"

"Must be that Hologram Knight SG-1 warned us about," Flynn remarked, gazing at the Knight as it stepped over Venjix and began ascending the machine carved stairs up towards the Rangers. 

"And now it's after us!" Scott exclaimed. 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Vala had hacked into a computer terminal, and discovered just about everything in Venjix's monologue about the history of the facility, save that he had 'uncovered hidden documentation about a 'secret treasure of vast resources' instead of deduced that Damara had given him that information.

You are now Cameron Mitchel, and you swear as Vala relates the part about the Black Knight Hologram still being ACTIVE.

"Does it mention where the sword is?" You ask.

"...Yeah yea yeah, it's-" Vala pauses, and then turns to look at the half-finished Attack Bot. Then, her eyes pan upwards, and upwards, and... "Up there."

You look up.

Damn it, sure enough, that damned sword is held in a claw up up up and way up in the center of the room's ceiling. 

"Aw crap," you lament. "How the fuck are we supposed to get to that!?"

Mordred didn't waste time to start running for the stairwell leading to the upper railing.

* * *

 

 _ **"STREET SABER!"**_

Surprisingly, Scott's personal weapon was able to partially interact with the Hologram Knight- in that it was able to block the attacks the Knight swung his way, but was unable to deliver any damage in return.

Not that it would be easy to fight regardless in the hallway's tight corridors.

 _"SCOTT! NOW!"_ Summer yells, and the Red Ranger disengages so that Yellow and Blue can use their suit powers.

 ** _"TIME FREEZE!"_** Flynn yells- and the Hologram barely slows down any. 

_**"ENERGY BLAST!"**_ Summer hurls a burst of golden-pink light at the Hologram, briefly causing its form to flicker and shift... but inevitably, it stabilized.

Just in time for Scott to crash into and through it with his own suit's energy empowered speed attack.

The Knight hologram dispersed into chunks, as if the armor had been blown apart at the seams- landing across the room, and flickering, flickering, stuttering...

And then vanishing.

"...That seemed too easy," Flynn remarked.

"Don't jinx us, Flynn!" Summer told him off.

* * *

 

As Mordred climbed onto a large metal chain, and prepared to swing across the gap- the Black Knight Hologram appeared suddenly within the room.

"Aw crap!" Mitchel yells.

You are Vala Mal Doran, and you feel much the same... but worse as the Holographic Knight ignores you all and steps up to the half finished Attack Bot.

With a roaring sound akin to a gutteral growl- the Knight reaches out towards the air- and all the parts of the Unfinished Attack Bot suddenly fly loose from their holders into position, suddenly FINISHING the Body, and, well...

The Knight Steps into it.

"Oh We are FUCKED!" You yell.

The KnightBot steps off of the assembly platform, and raises its hand into the air- the sword Mordred was about to swing for suddenly detaches from its holder, and lands in the Knights hand.

And then, its body begins to glow Green.

"Oh we're MORE THAN FUCKED!" Mordred yells. "ASTRO MEGA, BEAM US OUT NOW!"

* * *

 

**_PVVVMMM-SHING!_ **

With a bust of light, SG-1 reappears on the Astro Mega's bridge, Mordred hits the floor from a few inches higher than the other two though.

You are Tegiri Kalbur once more, and you feel no sense of relief as with a burst of green light- the Knightbot grows to giant size, destroying the building it had been within.

"Well, shit," you swear, and glance to Ashler. "Looks like we're getting in on the action today, too."

"BEGIN TRANSFORMATION!" Ashler calls out.

The Astro Megaship launches out of range of the Knightbot as it begins to climb out of the building wreckage.

The Astro Megaship transforms in an instant, becoming the Astro Megazord, and you synchronize up.

* * *

 

With a surge of strength, Flynn dislodges the debris that had landed on his team, and he huffs, tired, as they all catch their breath. "I am NOT doing THAT again."

"Sounds like a Zord Battle," Scott guesses from the clashing of swords and the thunderous stomping of giant feet.

"We should check on that kid first," Summer says. "Then we join the fight."

* * *

 

The Knightbot and the Astro Megazord clash swords- refined technique clashing against programmed skill.

But in a one on one match, the Knight's enhanced mechanical muscles just move ever so slightly faster than the Astro Mega's own motors.

It's an endurance match that can't be won solo, and Tegiri and Ashler know it. But still, they keep it up while they work on a plan. Blow for blow- steel countering steel.

It's a good thing, then, that barely two minutes into that impossible brawl, that three multicolored vehicle zords burst forth from the wreckage of the facility- growing from beams of colored, morphing light into solid forms.

A Red Eagle Race Car- a Blue Lion Bus- and a Yellow Bear R.V. 

**_"FORM HIGH OCTANE MEGAZORD!"_ **

In mid air- the Zords transform. The Eagle Zord's rear half splits, and folds forwards, becoming arms. The now chest of the soon to be humanoid robot slides across the top of the Yellow Bear, as its mouth opens wide, folding back and becoming a shield. 

Simultaneously, the Lion Zord flips onto its rear, splitting far up along its middle until the point where the Head folds down, forming legs and a waist. Then, The upper half of the Megazord slids into place, Yellow gliding across rails built into Blue, and then with a snap hissing lock of steam, the Megazord throws a punch forwards- smashing into the Knightbot's head even as the engine block of the Eagle Zord folds in half, becoming the Megazord's head.

All in all, about three seconds of real time, slowed down for dramatic effect.

The Knightbot staggers backwards, and the Astro Megazord and High Octane Megazord stand side by side.

_"DEPLOY WEAPONS!"_

The bear shield detaches from the back, and from the leg, a giant box shaped like an Engine Cell emerges, and folds out into the shape of a sword. The Three-part Megazord catches both weapons in the left and right hands respecitvely, and the Astro Megazord similarly deploys its shield.

The Knightbot considers its opponents as its regains its composure.

"So the Hologram possessed the Attackbot?" Flynn grouches. "Damn it, I really did jinx us, didn't I?"

"I told you!" Summer reminds him.

"Now's not the time!" Summer tells them. "We've got a job to finish!"

* * *

 

Corinth's versions of Ganos Lal and Mordred climbed a hill as fast as they could, moving faster than they had been before upon hearing the sounds of battle.

And thus, it was that they saw The Astro Megazord and High Octane Megazord confronting the Knightbot.

The three giants began circling in the ruins of the Venjix facility built over Avalon, swords at the ready.

The wind blew- casting a dust cloud of sand and other ruined building particulates through the air, shifting the light of the afternoon sun into a harsh, burnt, sickly orange hue that settled over everything.

It was what some would call a Mexican Standoff, except with swords instead of guns.

Silence fell as the wind blew harsher, before settling.

And as the sand settled, and the light began to shift back once more to how it had been before...

"GO!"

The Astro Megazord charged at the Knightbot, and the Knightbot swung its sword.

This time, instead of blocking with the sword, they blocked with the shield, and deflected the Knightbot's arm away while stabbing forwards with their sword- glowing with electrified light.

The Knightbot staggered, trying to dodge, but failed, and let loose a howl of rage as the sword tore through its barely secured waist armor- blowing open the fragile siding, and exposing its wiery interior.

The Knightbot raged, and went to attack, forgetting for an instant that it had two opponents to keep track of as it turned its back on the other...

The Astro Megazord dodge rolled away from the Knight's strike- and its sword wound up lodged within a large mass of rock.

_**"FINAL STRIKE!"** _

The High Octane Megazord rocketed forwards the moment it had the opportunity, and swung its glowing sword at the exposed tear in the side of the Knightbot's armor.

With a massive crunch and a tear of light- the Unfinished Attackbot's body split in two as the High Octane Megazord blasted past it, and then exploded brilliantly.

All that was left behind was its sword- which, free of the effects of the giant growth powers of Venjix's Download abilities, shrunk back down to a normal size once more.

"Well..." Tegiri huffed. "That was... annoying."

* * *

 

You are now Kanaya Maryam, and you stare at the unconscious teen in the Astro Megaship's infirmary ward. The information Shaper is giving you on his bodily status is...

Well.

Frankly, it's concerning.

"Well, I can certainly confirm that he's a clone of Hal Strider, to some degree, there's various other genetic sources built in, but Hal is the primary one," you report.

"His brain is the vastly shocking thing, however. There's a small box implanted within his brain, and nano machines have flooded all of his body. It's safe to say that he IS Venjix, and he's been implanted within this body for some reason or another." 

"So... what about the rest of him?" Summer asks. "It looked like he took a nasty tumble down the stairs, but other than some bruising on the skull we didn't see any other signs of physical harm."

"As far as I can tell," you say, "The nanomachines repaired the damage fairly quickly... except for one cruicial fault in the entire system."

"And what's that?" Flynn asks.

"The box in his brain suffered serious trauma during the impact, and now that it's nolonger serving as the primary control node for the Nano Machines, they are actively cannibalizing it for resources."

"...So Venjix took a tumble down the stairs and the part that stored his personality got damaged so badly it's being consumed by the repair devices in his body?" Scott summarizes.

"Somebody should have warned him about the Stairs," Flynn cracks a humorless smirk. 

"I can flush the nano machines with ease if I can get him to a safe place to EMP them," you explain. "But I honestly have no idea if his body will ever wake up again. The Brain structure is... well. It's under-developed for a body of this apparent physical age. I'd liken it more to a sweep old Wriggler instead of a teenage human."

"And then there's the question of if he does wake up... what will he remember?" Summer asks the hard hitting question.

And then your radio buzzes, "Kanaya, this is Tegiri on the bridge. SG-1 has recovered Artoria's Stasis Pod and are in the process of thawing her out. We will be beaming them directly to the Infirmary."

"Understood," you motion for the Rangers to clear the immediate open space. "Please try to target the area infront of Bed 2, if you can."

"Roger..."

A few moments later- 

_**PVVVMMMM-SHING!** _

SG-1 stands there, all of them holding onto the badly battered and bleeding form of Artoria Pendragon.

"Alright! Get her on the bed now!" You order, and then set to work.

* * *

 

"...So... Avalon got taken by the giant stupid robots," Corinth's Mordred summarizes. "And then people went down inside it again to... do what?"

"I have no idea," Corinth's Ganos Lal mused. "...But the possibilities are-"

And then they both sense it.

A rippling presence suddenly awakened from beneath Avalon- and then suddenly transported onto the Blue and silver Spaceship hovering over the facility. 

"...Artoria?" Ganos Lal stared. "...My god, she was in there the entire time?"

Mordred's hands clenched. "...Fucking hell. I thought I'd... I thought..."

The only thing stopping either of them from charging in and demanding answers for their questions was the fact they could sense an Alternate version of Mordred present here as well.

A Mordred who'd come from another dimension- the one from SG-1. The one they'd seen holding Artoria as she died during whatever the hell had happened back in August. 

The one who had sealed everything back to the way it should have been and kept two timelines from colapsing into insanity.

And as much as Corinth's Mordred hated the idea that some other version of himself had gone and become a well respected hero... 

He had to admit... that was that Mordred's story. Not his. He had his own path to chart in life now. 

Let that other Mordred have his Artoria to reconnect with. He deserved it after all of that turmoil.

There was no point in escalating things now.

After all, with a mostly dead world in dire need of reconstruction, there would be other ways, other times, to become a hero here. The hero the Corinth Timeline deserved, outside of, you know, the Power Rangers.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 4TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 03/14/0006.**

Your name is... Doctor K and- No no. No. That's... You've earned your name back at this point, haven't you?

Your name is Doctor Gina Kae, and you watch through a surveilance monitor as Venjix's body slumbers.

Venjix. Alive. As a Human? The thought fills you with dread. But there's no telling if Venjix is even alive in that body anymore. If the last of Venjix was flushed away with the nanomachines that were evacuated from his body. It could be a perfectly normal human child who wakes up...

But then there's no telling if the boy will ever wake up, either.

Kanaya had purged his body of nanomachines, and gone through the process of de-aging him to more closely match his brain's developmental stage.

Damara's time magic, no doubt, had caused THAT incongruity to begin with.

What is it that you want out of this?

Do you want it to be Venjix? Do you want it to be someone unknown? Some strange mix of the two?

What... what is it that you want out of this situation?

...Resolution.

Confirmation.

Certainty of one possibility over another.

The collapse of the Schrodinger's Cat Paradox centered around your creation once inexpicably housed within a living body.

And that body is lying there, unconscious. 

...There's no way to know for sure but to wait for him to wake up.

And you have no idea when that will be.

The uncertainty gnaws at you. It nags and it begs and pleads for attention.

But what attention do you have to give it?

What can you do about this situation when there's only the inevitable conclusion of this one person's actions that you, nor anyone else for that matter, have control over?

...At the very least, if he does ever wake up, you are going to tell him quite certainly that he is to avoid running anywhere near stairs ever again- just as a professional courtesy.

Because really, whoever wakes up in that body needs to understand why they ended up in that state to begin with.

You had no way of knowing it at the time, but it would be another year before the boy would awaken with nothing but vague memories of being possessed by an enraged spirit whose grip was as cold as rusted steel thrown into a frigid, frozen wasteland.

But that's a story that isn't likely to be relevant to anything else for a very long time, if ever.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 5TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 03/15/0006.**

Your name is Jonas Quinn, and you find yourself in a familiar piece of territory.

Artoria Pendragon lying in an SGC infirmary bed, slowly waking up.

You, about to talk her through the fact that she's miraculously cheated death, thanks to the actions of an Alternate self redeeming her son, Mordred.

You have two Excalibers in hand to prove it. The one Artoria was frozen with, and the one that Mordred had shattered sealing everything back to the way it should have been.

You'll work Artoria up to that point gradually, and then make the reintroduction.

...You just hope this all works out for the best.

"Wh... who...?" Artoria's eyes opened, and she speaks so similarly to how she did before. "Wh... what dream is this?" Her attention snaps fully onto the swords in your hand. "Who are you? Why is there two of my sword?"

"Welcome back, Artoria," you tell her. "It's a very long story for how you got here. But I promise you, it's... it's one you'll hopefully find heartwarming, in the end."

* * *

 

A while later, you walk into the SGC cafeteria, and lay down Excaliber's hilt on the table infront of Mordred.

"Well?" he asks.

"She didn't buy it even after 'reading through Excaliber's memories'," You shake your head. "I left her with the mission reports to read."

"What happens after that?" Mordred asks.

"Cam said he'd go talk with her, and show he's worthy of Excaliber," you answer. "Hopefully, it'll convince her."

"I suppose its only fair she doesn't trust anything," Mordred sighs, picking up the broken sword, and Captchalogging it. "From her perspective, I was just trying to kill her a few hours ago, I guess."

He smiles up at you.

"Thanks for trying."

"Just wish I could have done more to help," you shake your head.

"It's enough for me," Mordred answers. 

You guess you'll make due with that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nothing like waking up to find out another you was wandering around doing things, eh?
> 
> BUT YEAH. That was a *thing.*
> 
> Fun, eh? Probably the last time we'll be seeing the RPM/Corinth City side of things in any major capacity. So hey, send off for that plot arc.


	54. INTERMISSION: Oblivious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Artoria thinks.

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 7TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 03/17/0006.**

You are now Artoria Pendragon, and you are just finding everything so hard to believe.

A broken Excaliber with memories you never lived.

A tale of being possessed into doing someone else's deeds and dying over it?

Merlin's secret Project being found and BUILT by Mordred??

...

You've gone through every report they've given you, and then some others from far before it, catching you up on the vast history of the last few years.

Part of that history involves an alternate version of yourself.

That... that's the most incredible part of it all.

You aren't even from THIS reality, if they're telling the truth...

And the Sword told you they were.

Why are you doubting it?

At face value, Mordred, redeemed somehow, decided to rescue you from a machine run kingdom, ruling over a dead land slowly recovering from it all.

But there's so much more to it than that.

Time Travel. Time Loops. Travel to Parallel Dimensions. A Witch of Time breaking barriers and stealing away into some power beyond herself...

You dying to Caliburn's blade? That just... reeks of some strange form of Predestination you don't wish to even consider.

You'd rather have remained Oblivious to it all.

To have remained unaware in your frozen capsule of ice.

A Tale of Heirs, Knights, Witches, Seers. A talke of Denizens and Consorts and toiling Underlings. Gods and false Gods. Monsters seeking to destroy everything.

Heroes seeking just to live their own lives.

It's.... FANTASTICAL and IMPLAUSIBLE and MYTHOLOGICAL all in one bundle.

And yet it's apparently HAPPENED.

Where can you GO from this? Where do you even TRY to go from this? 

But there it is, in the report, and in the swords memories...

Your private little nickname for your sweet little child. Your Little Saber...

You're faced with the evidence that it's true.

The thoughts and implications that everything you've read about is real and yet it turns everything you ever thought you knew up over onto its head.

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

...

What now?

What do you do now?

How do you even BELIEVE something like this?

How can you trust anything when you... when you doubt your own very existence.

By their own admission, you don't belong in this world. You aren't THEIR Artoria.

By that logic, this heroic Mordred isn't your Mordred, if he even survived this "SANGRAAL" incident they mentioned...

What do you do?

What do you do NOW?

What do you do that benefits ANYBODY at all???

And more importantly...

What do you want for yourself?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ...Yeah, that's a *LOT* To think over, isn't it?


	55. SGA:03X14/MINISODE: The Shield of Rodney

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lucky 8RK.

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 13TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 03/23/0006.**

"She used to leave the lights on, all over the house, every room," you are now Rodney Mckay, and you shake your head as you lead a team of scientists down a darkened, flooded corridor of Atlantis. "Drove our father Nuts."

Zelenka chuckles. "For me, it was my brother. Only, sometimes, we had no lights to turn on. So he'd set up candles everywhere."

"Ah? That sounds a bit more handy than what Jeanie did." you say.

"Well, ah, he burned the house down, actually."

You pause to glance at Zelenka. "So... my Sister was afraid of the dark, and blamed me for leaving the lights on. Dad believed her, never believed me... and you're telling me your Brother Burned Your House Down over the same thing?"

"We had to live in a Tent," Zelenka emphasizes, "In the Dead Of Winter. _For Three Months_."

"In terms of siblings causing us trouble, I think you have me beat," you admit. "And also, mildly concerning, because unlike us draining power from our ZPMs like a leaky faucet, there's a very real possibility that some Idiot Ancient has done the same thing as your idiot brother- and lit some candle that could burn the entire city to the ground if we don't shut it off."

"Yes, I'd rather we not have to repeat my three months in dead winter," Zelenka says, "but rather, who knows how long in tents on the Alpha Site because Atlantis sunk because someone turned on some super capacitor that we couldn't get to in time."

You all come up to a lab door, which fails to open, and you motion for Doctor Esposito to take a look at it. She wedges past you to start examining the door.

"Metaphors aside," you say. "As long as we keep up this pace we should be able to safely shut down everything before we start burning any candles- metaphorically or otherwise- at both ends."

"I have to say, you're much more agreeable now than when we first stared," Zelenka observes.

"Yeah, well, the marvels of having your own ego shoved back at you by trained and licensed psychiatrists and therapists," you roll your eyes.

"Doctor Mckay, this console is shot," Esposito informs you.

"Fine fine," you approach it, generate a short couple of conductive force-shields, and bridge the gap between a pair of control crystals. "Now then... let's just..."

You give a little mental twist of your utterly fascinating abilities, and the door pops open with a shrill squeak from the built in speaker that these doors usually pulse with a much more pleasing sound to announce that the doors are about to open.

"Going to have to fix that eventually," you say, and your team enters the laboratory. "You know, I don't get these Ancients. Half of these things they turned on they didn't even need. Nobody visited the labs at all since they were activated. Why activate something at all if you don't need it? Just wastes power."

"Yes, well," Zelenka shrugs. "While I'd suggest for some of them they just didn't have time to get to it, perhaps some of the issues we've attributed to the Replicators was more damage the City sustained since its original submersion?" He smiles flirtatiously at Esposito for some reason, and she giggles in turn.

"Maybe," you shake your head, and then take stock of the situation.

There's just one major console at the center of everything, with a few smaller ones to the sides.

"Spread out, look for power buttons primarily. Don't touch anything unless you're sure it turns the thing infront of you OFF," you remind the team. "We don't want a repeat of what happened with Oswald in the 'Human Transfiguration into Cute Bunny Rabbits Lab', after all."

"Why were the Ancients researching such a thing anyways?" Zelenka inquires.

"Something something Ascension, probably," you gripe, moving over to the main console. "After all, turning one living life-form smoothly into another and back again is just a pre-requisite for turning entirely into energy, right?"

"Are you sure you should be up there?" Zelenka asks as you step onto the platform, lighting up the console brighter.

"Well, how else am i going to find out what this lab is for and how to shut it down?" You ask. "God forbid these Ancients put things in their Database PROPERLY filed away by Lab number! But noooo! They had to scramble their entire database because they were afraid of the Wraith stealing their research!"

You activate a console screen.

"Hrm, maybe that's why the Ancients turned everything on?" Zelenka muses. "They didn't know where the file names were anymore?"

"Maybe..." You read through the text on screen. "Oh, lookie, Yet ANOTHER Ascension Research Laboritory! This one for artificially evolving the human brain," you shake your head. "Useless to us! Don't wanna get Sangraal'd out of existance, after all." you look around, and- ah- that looks to be the power button.

You glance at Zelenka. "Usual bet?"

"A month's pay you don't get zapped by the equipment?" Zelenka scoffs. "Please, we both know it's going to back fire on you again. Double or nothing that your shield doesn't protect you this time."

"Hah! You're on!"

You bring up your personal forcefield, and press the power down button.

A panel above you suddenly opens, and fires a beam of green light at you.

Your forcefield flares and flares and flares, and then there's a spark from the console, and everything shuts down.

"..." You glance at Zelenka. "I think you owe me two month's pay this time!"

"Oh for the love of-!" Zelenka trails off with his usual foreign language swearing.

You're still not sure how the magic Gate Translation doesn't pick up on it and apply it to him, like it does everyone else, but hell. You'll figure it out someday.

For now, you just radio to the Infirmary to schedule a visit from Kanaya to ensure that you didn't just get your brain scrambled up by Ancient Technology.

An hour later, and Kanaya confirms it: you've definitely earned that wager from Zelenka, because your shield kept that device from doing ANYTHING to you at all.

Haha! You do so love it when a gamble rolls out in your favor. What a Lucky Break!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well THAT was a fun little digression. Heh. Whole episode just butterflied away because of a personal shield. Ain't that just lovely? XD
> 
> That said. Bunny Transmutation Experiment. What were those Ancients thinking? *Shakes head* Probably the same thing that had them make *Jurassic Park* in Pegasus...
> 
> And you know something, I'll bet you one of those Ancients who was a part of that *subtly* gave the idea for such a story in this time line. 
> 
> Probably.
> 
> ANYWAYS. Hope you all are ready for some rather interesting stuff in the next two weeks. Cause it's gonna be *something else* I can tell you that much!!
> 
> Have a good weekend folks!


	56. SGA:03X15/MINISODE: The Waiting Game.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It was in an Ancient Lab on Atlantis. Of COURSE it wasn't a video game.

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 15TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 03/25/0006.**  
  
The people of M4D-058 waited and waited for their Oracles to return after centuries of wait...

Not since the Lanteans had fought the Wraith and abandoned the Pegasus Galaxy had their people been guided...

As it was, they would be waiting a much longer time.

Keiko and Tyzias were the ones to find a certain Lab on Atlantis in this timeline, and not Mckay and Sheppard... and instead of being tempted to 'play the neat game table,' they just shut it down without even interacting with it.

Because, It was in an Ancient Lab on Atlantis. Of COURSE it wasn't a video game.

The people of M4D-085 would be waiting for a LONG.... LONG time for their Oracles to return...

And those oracles really would never return.

Thus, Major Evan Lorne's team's visit to the planet lead to a more immediate deescalation of the tension between the two countries across from each other on the River, and nothing at all vastly close to the cluster fuck of a situation it could have been.

This made Aiden Ford very confused as he surveyed the planet, and compared his memories of other worlds to this one.

Oh well, he decided with a huff, it wasn't like every single detail had to go exactly the same.

But, there was one rapidly approaching detail he had to worry about and soon.

And that involved getting a sample of Carson Beckett's DNA.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's be real here. I didn't like this episode, and there was no way in hell I was going to even adapt it into a full episode here with that amount of dislike for it. So. Yeah. Butterflied away.


	57. SGA:03X16/INTERMISSION: After The Ark

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Crash landing a spaceship after the moon it's stuck in explodes as it de-orbits? Easy as pie.
> 
> Getting some sleep after worrying endlessly about your husband *having done all of that*? Eh. That could use some work.

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 23RD, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 04/02/0006.**

Your name is Argo Lalonde, and as you and Jade cuddle with John in bed after AR-1's latest mission... you can't help but feel that you keep lucking out somehow.

What other turn of phrase is there for stumbling on a moon-station, discovering a Wraith-tech derived Mass-People-Captchaloging system, accidentally unleashing a suicidal pilot and a desperate leader of their people who then in turn, respectively:

Blows open a hole in the side of the station with the escape shuttle's maneuvering thrusters, draining the engines, and venting atmosphere to the entire place into space, nearly killing everyone in the process, and then condemning them to a slow death by de-orbiting moon!

Growing desperate after that fact to save his people from the near mutual death they all suffered from, and shoves Teyla into the storage device to force John to take them down to the planet below in the shuttle that had just had its fuel tanks depleted in the suicide run!

And THEN. AND THEN!!!!

Ford fucking appears out of nowhere, jabs a needle into Doctor Beckett's neck- and the only reason he was THERE was because people had been hurt in the initial decompression- and stole a large needle-full of BLOOD before zapping the fuck away like a coward! What was that even about!?

Not to MENTION the fact that the damage to the moon base made the locking clamps for the shuttle jam up, forcing John to RIDE THE DAMNED MOON through its collapse of decaying orbit and then- some how! SOMEHOW! John manages to pull of a safe and secure crash landing.

You...

You snuggle closer.

It's all just sheer luck.

Sheer luck... Just...

So much sheer luck.

It's a miracle. It's such a damned lucky miracle that everything turned out okay.

It's a miracle that Teyla came out of it alright.

It's a miracle that those thousands of people inside the storage device came out of it with nothing worse than a few isolated cases of mild memory loss.

It's a miracle.... 

So why doesn't it feel like one?

One of these days someone is going to do something and it's going to hurt a lot of people and...

And you're just glad that Mikari's ordering a base wide rest day for next weekend. 

* * *

 

A few hours later, you find you can't sleep even after John and Jade have gotten to sleep. Lizzy's asleep just fine, too...

It's just you.

Strider Insomniac mode Activate.

Whee.

You make your way to the infirmary.

"Oh, hello Major Lalonde! Er. No. Wait. Major's not right. Doctor? Captain? Colonel? Major? No, wait, I guessed that one already. Professor? No. Um..." The overnight Doctor on Duty, DOCTOR... J... Jen... Uh... J. KELLER- you think her name is... Jennifer? Jenny? Jennings? Wait, no that's a last name. It's something with a JEN you think- fumbles over your professional title. "Sorry. I should know this, but I forgot. What was it we were supposed to use again for your proper job-rank title? I barely see you or anyone else from the Day shifts enough to make it stick what the right titles are. I literally just called Doctor Zelenka COLONEL Zelenka last night when he came by for migraine relief. He didn't notice but God, did that make me feel bad for screwing it up. Kinda like I just did right now. Um. Please don't tell him." She looks embarrassed for the rambling, but you're still trying to remember her first name too. 

It's late, so that's probably why.

"Ah, the pains of taking the night shifts, eh?" You giggle a little. "Just Argo's fine, Doctor Keller," you say. "But if you really need to use a title, Assistant works fine. And I won't tell him."

"Alright then! Assistant, Assistant, Assistant..." Keller shakes her head, fixes a smile on her face, and starts over, proper: "What can I do for you, Assistant Argo? Also, thanks for not telling him. I hate flubbing up like this. It's so unprofessional!"

"Haha... No, but seriously, Argo's fine." you tell her. "As for what I need. Some sleep aids? I can't really get to sleep tonight after everything that happened today."

"Ah, gotcha, the whole 'AR-1 went and crash landed a space ark full of people on a planet' thing," Keller nods, and moves over to a cabinet. "Honestly, way Doctor Beckett described it, it sounded like it was a huge thing straight out of a Scifi Movie." She searches inside for what she's looking for.

"Keller, our whole life is a Sci-fi-Fantasy Hybrid TV series, at this point," you tell her. "I mean, cat ears and crow wings, right?"

"...Ah, that is true, isn't it?" She shakes her head. Then, she opens the cabinet, retrieves a bottle, and dispatches two pills. "Here ya are, Assistant Argo." She hands you the blessed sleep bringing pills. "Take 'em with a glass of water when you get back to your room. They work Pre~tty fast."

"Thanks," you say. "If I have any more long nights I'll make sure to drop by and visit."

"Sure thing," Keller smiles. "Have Good Sleep!"

"I'll try," you laugh. "Night, Keller."

"Night!"

...You only realize when you're back in your room, and are already downing the sleep pills, that you forgot to ask for her first name. FUCK!! That's going to bug you so much.

Then, you feel drowsy. The pills really do work fast.

You head to bed and your head hits the pillow and you're out like a light.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 24TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 04/03/0006.**

The next morning, you arrive a bit later to the Administrator's office than usual with a fussing Lizzy in arm, having overslept by twenty-five minutes, and a slightly pounding headache that you think came from worrying too much yesterday.

Much to your surprise, Samantha Carter is visiting Mikari's office as you arrive.

"Colo- I mean, Doctor Carter! it's good to see you!" you flub your own memory of the proper titles just then. Keller's not the only one who makes mistakes. "What are you doing here?"

"Hello, Argo," Sam smiles. "I just came by to deliver some mail."

"Mail, huh?" You ask.

"Indeed," Mikari holds up a fancy white envelope. "We have our RSVPs for the Wedding."

"You guys settled on a date?" You ask, excitement sparking inside your chest.

Lizzy's fussing silents as she picks up on something important about this conversation, glancing between you and Samantha.

"Yep," Sam pops the P, and decaptchalogues an envelope. "Here's yours, John's, and Jade's."

You expertly take it in one hand, place Lizzy down in the chair behind your desk, and then open the Envelope.

 _"To John, Argo, Jade. You are Cordially Invited to the Wedding of GEN. JACK O'NEILL and DR. SAMANTHA CARTER,_ " the first two lines read. Then there's the Date- VERY soon! Sooner than you'd expected, Next Weekend!- and location- 

"Oh!" you gasp. "You're holding it in Hauntswitch? That soon??"

"Well, after the Replicators attacked Atlantis, we decided we didn't want to wait any longer," Sam explains. "And then Jack mentioned to Jake how hard it was to get hold of a venue anywhere this time of year on short notice, and Jake mentioned that his Family Estate still held onto the Manor in Hauntswitch even after the whole "he's dead and then alive again" legal issue, and the ground's big enough for everyone we plan on inviting, so... we went for it."

"So making use of what we've got," you nod. "Nice, nice. I'll have to tell John and Jade. Who else is coming?"

Sam pauses- and then Jolinar laughs- and decaptchalogues a list so that you can see it.

"Ah. That's a lot of people you're inviting," you say, observing the list of mostly green-check-marked names. Only people from Atlantis haven't been checked off yet, and you suspect that's just because Samantha hasn't gotten around to inviting them directly yet.

"We have a surprisingly large list of people that counts as Close Friends and Family," Samantha tells you. "Plus, well, you know how the SGC is. I've got a few more people here to talk to before the full guest list is assembled, but... Yeah. This is it. Soon!"

You smile. "This is great news. Congrats on getting everything together so quickly!"

"Thanks," Sam says. "It's been a long time coming."

"Are you sure the Weather's going to be alright?" you ask.

"We've got that handled," Sam says. "Would you believe that Siler of all people has some mild weather control abilities now?"

"What? Siler!? Seriously?" you ask, astonished. "No Way!"

"Apparently getting shocked or exploded on a regular basis translates into Weather Control, somehow," Sam shakes her head. "Go figure that his incident rates have gone down since they manifested, too."

You can't help but laugh. Poor Siler, but at least his suffering has come around to a positive side of things now. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> About the episode summarized: Nothing much happened in that episode that the butterflies could have augmented any, save for Ford stealing some of Beckett's DNA. (Uhoh.) And that's, well, that's just a scene that would happen anywhere in the last half of the episode. John gets into some wacky situations, that's for sure.
> 
> But anyways. Here we are, The Start of the Sunday Wedding Arc, and here I am, introducing Doctor Keller early. She's been around. Background. Dealing drugs and attending emergencies in the late hours of the night. Very much a night owl enjoying her night time Serenity. 
> 
> ...Yes, that was an pun referencing the fact she's played by the same actress who played Kaylee on Firefly. 
> 
> Poor girl's about to get dumped into the deep end early. Whoops! 
> 
> Keller and Argo both fumble over names and titles. The pains of working the night shift and not seeing people regularly enough to make things stick.  
> (Zelenka was internally very amused the next morning at being mistaken for a Colonel.)
> 
> Next up, the second to last SG-1 episode to be posted for this Act, and for the Series of SG-1 itself. Once we finish off with 10x20: Unending's slightly more spreadout nature, Future SG-1 content will fall under the ALT or SGA tags instead when need arises... or will have their own movie arcs/whole acts to themselves. (COUGHCOUGHCONTINUUMNCOUGHACT7COUGHCOUGH)


	58. SG1:10X18: Family Ties.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Music in this chapter is played fast and loose because the characters are literally choosing music. There is literally no timed segment at all in this chapter. Feel free to listen to songs at your own leisure if you want to.

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 25TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 04/04/0006.**

Like Father, Like Daughter.

Vala's Father had contacted the SGC claiming to have all sorts of valuable information about, and get this, some Lucian Alliance guy seeking to blow people up with naquadah bombs.

Sure, at face value it seems a legitimate threat...

But then Vala says: "He's a scammer. He's scamming us. There may be real Naquadah at risk, but he wants it for himself."

And then Cassandra agrees: "The only threat we're facing is if we take him seriously and don't scam him in turn."

And so, you are General Landry, and you let SG-1 deal with Vala's scamming father while you plan for something a lot more close to home... but not at all that dissimilar.

Family issues are prevalent a galaxy over, it seems.

You've scheduled a dinner with your ex-wife and your daughter.

God, you hope you can make it right by them. You've managed to somewhat make amends with Carolyn, but...

You just hope you won't screw things up further.

* * *

 

**[O<\-- STARGATE: SG-1 -->O](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw) **

* * *

 

You are now MORDRED PENDRAGON, and you sit across from your rather uncomfortable looking mother for the first time since... since you rescued her from Corinth's Avalon.

A little over two weeks.

It's not the fastest turn around, but it's not the slowest either.

"Hi," you open.

"Hello," she answers in turn.

Green eyes meet green for several long moments of silence.

"...So..." you try again. "You wanted to see me?"

Artoria takes a breath, holds it, and exhales.

"...I..." She hesitates. "I don't know what you want from me."

"....Eh?" You ask. "What I want from you? What do you mean by that?"

"I don't know what your game is," Artoria shakes her head. "No, more importantly, I don't know how to replace the Artoria you lost. I don't know what she was to you, or you to her. I'm lacking that context."

"I don't... have a 'game,'" You tell her.  "And... There really wasn't any unsaid context that weren't in the mission reports. You and me... we never had a chance to talk about anything.between the time she got possessed and the time she... she died." 

You can pass it off as a bad dream. You can ignore it all you want. Staring across from her here and now, you know she's the same person and yet different.

A different divergence point.

"What I want is..."

A different reality.

"It's a second chance," you say. "For both of us. To... to maybe move past what the Andromeda Ascendants had me do. So we can be... I don't know... I'd hope we could be family?"

"I see..." Artoria considers it.

Your stomach churns with anticipation on those hung words. 

"...I..."

Oh fuck oh god please don't let her deny you again--

"I would like that too."

You nearly faint out of relief and shock, but somehow maintain your composure and smile.

"That's awesome."

* * *

 

"So, is it just me or did Vala's dad try giving us play tickets to the wrong play?" your name is Cassandra Fraiser, and you squint at the printing at the tickets that Vala's dad just handed you.

"...What did he say it was again? The Virginia Dialogues?" Jude asks.

"Yeah, I think so..." You hand him the ticket. "I think this is something else entirely different."

Jude reads the title printed on the tickets... And then he nearly chokes as he realizes what it says instead.

"That's not the same Play at all!" Jude manages to get out. "But- But I can see how he made the mistake. Those are some... very similar words right there."

"Indeed they are," you shake your head. "I'm not interested in it, atleast. But it'd be a shame to let them go to waste."

"...Prank someone with them?" Jude asks.

"Hell yes," you answer. 

* * *

 

[A certain melody ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QidAZtlIPuA)played on the laptop sitting before Samantha Carter and Roxy Egbert, and as they listen to it, they have various reactions.

"I mean," Sam starts, "it's nice, but it's... like..."

"It's something I'd play more for Rosie's wedding than yours, for sure," Roxy nods in agreement. "Doesn't scream 'Sam and Jack' at all."

She stops the track,[ and changes to another song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=75kJb_aAvKY).

"It's Jazzy, but... Eh," Sam winces. "I dunno. I'm not feeling it."

Roxy nods, [and changes tracks yet again](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO5IN60Nt9E).

"Oh, hello," Sam sits to attention. 

But then, after the minute mark, she winces. "No, that's way more Striderian than we want."

"Yeah, I hear ya. Major Davis Vibes there." Roxy muses. "Buuut.... I'mma tab that for just incase a fight breaks out."

"...A fight? At a wedding?" Sam asks, raising an eyebrow. 

"You never know when party crashers might cause some trouble," Roxy wriggles her eyebrows.

[Roxy tries another song](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTpm_sDz62M).

"...I like it, let's save that one for the build up to the actual ceremony," Sam decides. "Like, the penultimate track before the standard Bride-down-the-Aisle track."

"Booked and saved!" Roxy states with a grin. "I'm tellin' ya, Sammy! You're not gonna regret making me your DJ for the wedding one bit!"

You are Jolinar, and with a nudge, you chime in with: **"I sincerely doubt that there will be any regrets at all."**

"Good!" Roxy grins even wider somehow, like a cat. "Now! Before we continue on debating the rest of the playlist... Have you and Jack decided on a song yet?"

Sam says just that song title, and Roxy beams. 

"Oooh! From Chixie's last album!"

"Yep," Sam nods.

"Good choice good choice!" Roxy pens it down. "[Golden... Time... Lover!](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sc1gwRnSVzY) Heh. Got it."

* * *

 

"Of course I'm coming, Jack. This is yours and Sam's wedding, I wouldn't miss it for the world," George Hammond smiled into the phone. "I think I can manage a short flight to Hauntswitch just fine." A pause as Jack spoke on the other end. "If you're that worried about my health I can find someone to travel with me. I'll be there hell or high water."

Another pause.

"Alright then, Jack. I'll see you in Hauntswitch."

* * *

 

A short time later...

"Who turned Penny onto Pokemon?" your name is Jude Harley, and you blink in astonishment as you finally take stock of just *what* exactly the various plushies scattered around your daughter's room are of.

You knew she'd been collecting plushies- people had been gifting her them for ages now- but...

 _Oh._ She was at THAT age now.

Plush Pokemon. Lots and lots of Plush Pokemon. With a SURPRISING FOCUS on a specific ICE TYPE. What's its name again? GLACEON, you think.

"I think it was either Roxy or John," Cassie sighs, mostly blissfully, partly tiredly. "Someone was playing it over at their house and Penny took a liking to it."

"If only it were Digimon," you state with a sigh.

"Eh? What's wrong with Pokemon?" Cassie asks, glancing at you.

"Nothing's wrong with either," you say, "but Digimon TALK. Pokemon say their names over and over again. Soon enough she's going to start putting personalities to the plushes, if she hasn't already, and then she's going to start talking with them and for them and..." you shake your head. "It's just going to make it a little bit harder for us to figure out what's going on inside her head if she sticks strictly to the Pokemon noises." You pause. "Plus, arguments whenever we inevitably get it wrong."

"...I see what you mean," Cassie muses. "...By the way, did you give the tickets to Jonas?"

"Yeah, and I heard he gave them to Laura Cadman when she officially transferred back to the SGC full time earlier today," you answer.

"...Wasn't she dating Doctor Beckett?" Cassie asks.

"Apparently they broke up," you answer with a shrug. "I didn't catch why."

Still. Pokemon.

You're going to have to brush up on a LOT of names very, very soon.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Finishing the week:  
> Unending - Prologue.  
> Sunday - Prologue.
> 
> The two episodes will alternate Acts over the next two weeks.  
> Unending Act 1  
> Sunday Act 1  
> Unending Act 2  
> Sunday Act 2  
> Unending Act 3  
> [Weekend Break]  
> Sunday Act 3  
> Unending Act 4  
> Sunday Act 4  
> Unending Act 5  
> Sunday Act 5
> 
> And then with that, we're in the final stretch of episodes/chapters for this act, wrapping up the remaining Atlantis Episodes in the season along with an Intermission and a What-If ALT chapter/episode. I'm unsure yet of how long that will be, chapter-count wise, but I think it may be a week, maybe slightly more than a week. And if that is the case and I have less than two weeks worth of chapters to finish up the Act, then I'm just going to push through and post a chapter a day to finish it off. 
> 
> I will be taking another break between acts at that point to make some future story arc decisions as well as try and get some more IRL stuff out of the way. 
> 
> When this Act concludes, we are then down to FOUR acts remaining in this story. A6A4, A6A5, A6A6, Act 7.


	59. SG1: 10X20: Unending - Prologue.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Series Finale. Ten seasons of Stargate SG-1 wraps up with a Wedding finale for Jack and Sam. Meanwhile, something unknown lurks in the shadows, waiting to strike.  
> \---  
> In which food poisoning isn't always food poisoning.

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 29TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 04/08/0006.**

**4:12 P.M.**

**HALF-HARLEY MANOR.**

Nobody saw the speck on the ground.

Nobody noticed, as it grew some more.

The cracks spread through the ground, like a shot of poison through dying life- the Lines SHIMMERED with the Afterglow of Space Itself.

Nobody Noticed...

Until the Cracks Roared Open, bearing their mighty teeth to swallow their prey whole.

...And then everyone fell into a pocket universe.

The driveway and forest outside the Half-Harley Manor had been suddenly transformed, replaced instead with a tiny, humble forest grotto. Or it would have been tiny and humble if not for the dense trees and fog bank that made it hard to see.

There is a small creek of water, flowing through the terrain.

The Air is Stained with the Scent of Blood, present, subtly, not over whelming. Just enough to remind you that blood was spilled.

And then they saw the beast.

Massive- fifteen feet tall- with a body glistening of teeth and eyes and the void itself. It had antlers for bones, and limbs, seemingly fractal-like branching off from every joint imaginable, spiraling off into eternity.

The creature had no eyes where they should be- instead, the glittering light of dead universes resided within its skull. Its mouth was curled into a permanent, snide grin...

Those who spoke of its name called it THE END. Born of Broken Stars, and forgotten, screaming souls. The eyes adorning its body gleamed instead with the light of the minds it had stolen, and added to the infinite screaming sea it called a consciousness.

It's claws swept out, seeking a target---

And then a billowing cloak rustled through the scene- dashing through the crowded forest like a bullet whizzing by, or a sword slicing at super sonic---

_**SLASH- CLANG!!!** _

The End howled- and everyone caught sight of a glistening, bloodied sword- blood that was stained with the rippling texture of a star field.

And all eyes watched as the cloaked figure darted across at multiple angles-

**_WASH! CLANG! SWOOSH! TWING!!! KICK!!!!!!!_ **

And the End's head snapped backwards from the momentum- its body staggering as it was temporarily stunned, and the mysterious, Cloaked Savior backed away, hopping a few steps before settling next to Davis Strider- who was the first to glance beneath the hood and see the aged, but familiar face beneath...

"Dirk??"

* * *

 

_**7 HOURS EARLIER.** _

**9:03 A.M.**

**HAUNTSWITCH FREEWAY.**

"This is going to be a fucking disaster, I'm telling you,"  Karkat Vantas mumbled as the car rumbled, idling in early morning rush hour traffic. "We're going to be LATE!"

"Dude," you are Davis Strider, and you roll you eyes. "I told you we shouldn't have stopped at that shady ass Burger King when there was a perfectly spotless Mcdonalds across the street!"

You then glance at the tiny little passenger in the back seat- Nepeta, curled up on herself as she looks half-sick and unaware of the world around her.

"Besides, Nep didn't want Burger King anyways," you continue. "We should've just gone to Mcdonalds and-"

"Okay, first of all, Strider, that fucking Mcdonalds wasn't across the street, it was TWO MILES down the road. Two miles out of the way, and that Burger King looked FINE. How was *I* Supposed to know that the chicken nuggets got contaminated??"

You and Karkat have spent the last DAY of your trip stalled with no progress at all. All because Karkat wanted Burger King instead of Mcdonalds and Nepeta got fucking Food Poisoning.

"Look, Karkat, Babe, I love you and all, but you've got ZERO warning signs in your gut about what constitutes a 'fine' looking Burger King. Their sign didn't even have any LETTERS on its billboard! Not even a smorgasbord of random leftover glyphs!"

Seriously. Having your little Nep suddenly throwing up in the car was just...

It's a bad omen.

But atleast it was just food poisoning, and the doctors cleared her for travel again once her stomach had been flushed out and she started to recover.

* * *

 

**9:06 A.M.**

**HAUNTSWITCH HOTEL.**

"Argo? You doing alright in there?" Jade asked, knocking on the bathroom door of the Hauntswitch hotel they were staying at.

"Yeah, just... I dunno... I think I ate something bad last night," Argo answered tiredly from the other side. "Probably was that Mcdonalds we stopped at after we checked in. I should be fine in time for the Wedding."

"Okay," Jade nods, then turns to you, frowning.

"What?" Your name is John Sheppard, and you frown. "It was probably those fishy looking chicken strips. I told them to not eat them."

"Could've tried a bit better," Jade shakes her head. "Anyways. It's... It's not just that. I've got a weird feeling in the pit of my stomach."

"You're not getting sick too, are you?" You ask.

 _"If you're getting sick, find another bathroom!"_ Argo interjects from inside the bathroom.

"No, no," Jade shakes her head. "It's nothing like that. I just... I dunno. I feel like there's this gnawing pit in the bottom of my stomach. Nerves, I guess. But... I dunno. I dunno! I don't know, it's..." She runs her hands through her hair. "UGH. I just... fucking... It's like I didn't eat breakfast even though I know I did."

You frown.

"You know, it's weird, but, I feel like the wind's been blowing sour the last few hours," you say. "Do you think this might be a Power thing?"

Jade frowns at that. "...Maybe? I dunno, it's... Fuck, I don't know."

You suddenly get the feeling this is going to be a long day.

* * *

 

**O <\-- [STARGATE: SG-1](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UadzNBniZw) \-->O**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Credit goes to a dear friend of mine for helping design The End at the beginning. What a Party Crasher, that thing! Doesn't it know there's a wedding going on?
> 
> Feel free to speculate exactly what the hell's going on. You've got a whole weekend to wait to start to see things play out, basically. Well. For SG-1's side of things. Tomorrow, Sunday's Prologue for Atlantis. 
> 
> Pesterquest came out today. Yes. As of time of writing this note I haven't had a chance to really dive into it yet.


	60. SGA:03X17: Sunday - Prologue.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunday is meant to be a day of rest... But sometimes, that doesn't go anywhere near according to plan.  
> \---  
> Keiko's perspective.

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 29TH, 2002.**  
  
**DIASPORA DATE: 04/08/0006.**

Your name is Keiko Ayano, and you're sitting pretty in the ADMINISTRATOR'S OFFICE.

That is to say, Mikari, Argo, John, and Rodney are all off on Earth for Jack and Sam's wedding- among other people- thus the fall of Atlantis' leadership onto your shoulders for the MANDATORY DAY OF REST.

You've got not too much to do but work on paperwork...

And hey, there's Mallek coming to visit you now.

"Hey," he greets. "I've got some stuff to wrap up in the Gate room with the Gate, sooo... Wanna go get lunch in about an hour?"

"Yeah," you nod. "Sounds good. I've got about that much Paperwork to do too."

"Great, see you in an hour," Mallek waves, and heads off.

Are you a little miffed that you didn't get invited to the wedding? Eeeh... Not really. 

It really was only close friends and family this time, and honestly, you're a bit... distant on the friends and family relations tree. It's no big deal. You heard that Dammek only got an invite because Callie was on the short list because she'd worked with Sam on the Corinth Rift Research Project. 

Still... Someone has to mind Atlantis. You're probably one of the best people for the job.

You suddenly expect today to be a harmless, casual, do nothing Sunday.

With THAT much concentration of sheer protagonist might concentrated in one place, things here in Atlantis are bound to go smoothly.

* * *

 

An hour later, you and Mallek are in the Atlantis Cafeteria, munching down on food, and just enjoying eachother's presence when your wolf-ears perk up to the conversation going on near the 'Snack Pack' table.

"Oh! Doctor Freeman! Just the man I was looking for!" Beckett exclaims. 

"Oh, Really now? What is it I can do for you, Doctor Beckett?" Freeman asks in turn.

"Major Lorne got sick and had to cancel our Sunday Fishing Expedition to the Alpha Site," Beckett explains. "And Rodney, well, he got invited to a Wedding! So, he can't go either. I was wondering if you'd be up for-"

"One question, what KIND of fishing?" Freeman asks.

"Fly fishing, of course!" Beckett says.

"Ah, yeah, no. Sorry, if it were stand in a boat or sit on shore don't get my legs wet kind of fishing, I'd be ALL for it. But... Fly fishing? Ankle and knee deep in the water? No thank you. I've waded through ENOUGH muck to last me two lifetimes already."

"Ah, a shame then, I was hoping to enjoy your company a bit. Ah well. I'll find someone else."

And with that, the conversation ends, and you frown slightly.

That's... a really bad stroke of luck. Lorne getting sick on his day off?

You're sorely tempted to go check in on him and see if he's fak-

_**BOOOOM.** _

The entire tower suddenly shakes with the distant thud of an explosion.

And then alarms sound off.

"What the Fuck was that!?" Shirou, from the kitchen staff, exclaims with a startled shout for all of you.

_"MEDICAL TEAM TO THE GYM! MEDICAL TEAM TO THE GYM!"_

...Fucking hell. There went your peaceful Sunday.

...You're suddenly aware of the heavy weighted fact that it's likely to be a very long day.

* * *

 

**O < \--- [STARGATE: ATLANTIS](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0) \--- >O**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So Yeah. Happy Snappy Wedding on one side, Sudden Explosions on the other. 
> 
> What a way to pause for the weekend, eh??
> 
> Mean while, I'm getting more of the end of Atlantis Season 3 written. Hope you guys like episodes like Disclosure! Cause you're getting another Episode sort of like Disclosure~! XD


	61. SG1: 10X20: Unending - ACT 1.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Series Finale. Ten seasons of Stargate SG-1 wraps up with a Wedding finale for Jack and Sam. Meanwhile, something unknown lurks in the shadows, waiting to strike.  
> \---  
> In which preparations are made.

**9:30 A.M.**  
  
**HAUNTSWITCH HOTEL.**

"Ah, Damn it," Rose Lalonde swore as she pricked herself with a stray part of a hair clip, scratching the side of her temple. "Shit. Blood."

"Oh, damn it," you are Kanaya Maryam, and you quickly go for the box of bandages you packed. "Just give me a moment."

"No, no, it's fine, just let me get a towel and blot it away," Rose says, moving to wet a towel in the bathroom sink. "I'm just glad I didn't put my makeup on yet."

"I shouldn't have left Shaper on Atlantis," you say, getting the box of Bandages ready anyways. "I keep having this feeling all day that something wrong is going to happen and we'll be caught off guard without it's healing powers."

"Don't worry about it, Kanaya," Rose says, exiting the bathroom with a towel held to her forehead. "It'll be fine. What's the worst that can happen, Ba'al crashes the wedding?"

* * *

 

**9:42 A.M.**

**CLOAKED AL'KESH IN LOW ORBIT.**

You are now BA'AL, and you smirk as you adjust your BLOOD RED TIE in the mirror you had put in your personal quarters. 

It matches you pressed black suit, and the equally black fedora with a red band around its base where the brim meets the tower of it. ...Tower? Whatever it is humans call that part of the hat that sticks up. You've never heard anyone directly mention it. The inverted bowl? The sticky-uppy part?

Why, if you didn't know any better you'd say that the humans just flat out didn't know what the hell it was went into actually making hats!

You smirk wider, grab said hat, and gently flip it onto your head.

 _ **"Why, me,"** _you hum in approval. **"I think this is going to be our greatest plan yet."**

You've got a wedding to crash.

...Well, once the vows are said and done.

You owe them that much to not ruin that part of their day.

Better to strike when they're not expecting it.

* * *

 

**10:01 A.M.**

**HALF-HARLEY MANOR.**

"Okay, let's make sure those flowers are spread out properly!" Jake Harley calls out, dictating the rapid fire arrangement of the property's lawn to ensure that everything about the wedding is spread out right and proper. 

"AYE AYE, CAP'N!" Mierfa exclaims with cheer.

You are now JOEY CLAIRE, and you smile at the ongoing shenanigans as you and Roxy briefly glance out the kitchen window to the outside.

The two of you somehow got conscripted by JANE EGBERT alongside Teal'c to help with the BAKING for the... The... Oh, the party thing that happens after the- RECEPTION. That's it. Baking food for the Reception Party.

Needless to say, there's a lot of food-related chatter going on that's flying over your head right now, otherwise, it'd be transcribed here for reading...

But it'd also be a waste of writing time. You're on a schedule here!

"Ah, shit, we're out of eggs," Jane suddenly exclaims. "Joey! See if you can go find us two cartons of a  dozen eggs at the grocery store!"

"Hai Hai," you eagerly abscond, giving Chixie a parting apologetic smile, and zip out of the kitchen into the VASTLY CHANGED Living Room. 

Gone are the TV, paintings, and other unsightly clutter from your childhood- removed ages ago. Even the walls are now a different color- Wallpapered with some custom wallpaper design Roxy Egbert came up with containing little cartoon STARGATES, VARIOUS SPACE SHIPS such as the 304 CLASS SHIPS, HATAKS, and ASGARD SHIPS, plus the occasional P-90 and ZAT GUN for some insane reason.

In the places of all of that are Circular tables covered in SGC BDU GREEN TABLE CLOTHS, and a bunch of fancy HOTEL CHAIRS plush-fabric'd over with RED VELVET. 

Jake really spared no expense here, it seems.

Xefros, Dammek, Jonas, and Mitchel are helping Roxy Egbert set things up.

You spot your Kismesis and daughter standing away from everything by the stairs to the upper floor, and wave for Polypa to join you.

"What's up?" Polypa asks as she steps out the door behind you, Toko strapped securely to her chest via a GRUB CARRIER- which is really just an Earth baby carrier that

Wanshi saw and decided to modify to carry grubs, and thus gave to you, Mierfa, and Polypa to use with Toko as "BETA TESTING."

So far it's working out just fine.

"We ran out of eggs, Jane wants me to go get more," you explain as you both head to the car.

"Ah, eggs. Of course," Polypa shakes her head. "Why didn't she get all of this baking done sooner?"

"Because Roxy didn't get her a set item list of everything Jack and Sam wanted for the wedding until Friday night?" You offer the explanation you were given to your own question. "We're already in day two of this and we're going to be cutting it close as is."

* * *

 

**10:25 A.M.**  
  
**CLAIRE'S BEDROOM/BRIDES READY ROOM.**

"Oh god, why didn't we wait another week to make sure everything was ready?"

Your name is Morgan Carter, and you sigh a little bit as you help your older, alternate self get everything ready for her big day.

Of course, the one thing either of you couldn't prepare for was an AIRPORT SHUTDOWN stalling your brother and his family and making them get stuck in traffic from the airport too.

"It's going to work out fine," you say. "Mark and the kids will get here in time. The wedding will go smoothly. Everything will be fine, Sam."

"I just feel like everything's going wrong today," Sam says, trying to maintain her composure. "We should have waited. Put everything together a bit more first. We should have-"

Jolinar nudges you, and you let her speak- **"Sam, breathe. It will be fine. It's going to work out just fine. Now just focus on calming your breathing."**

"I hope you're right," Sam closes her eyes and focuses on breathing. Then, she mumbles something along the lines of, "of course she's right, she's you"- likely to her own Jolinar. 

...God, that's never going to stop being weird.

"...I wish Dad were here," Sam says, barely above a whisper.

 **[Oh, Jacob. Selmak...]** Jolinar sighs. 

"You know he'd be so proud," you say. "They both would be, Selmak would be so happy, and Dad would be so proud... They'd be shedding tears like nobody's business."

* * *

 

**HARLEY BEDROOM/GROOMS READY ROOM.**

"Okay, is anyone else but me not panicking right now?" 

You are Jimmyy O'neill, and you roll your eyes. "Hey. Me. Relax, would you? You survive a fucking Replicator Invasion of Atlantis. It's going to be fine. It's just a tie. You could go with out it and nobody would care."

Your other self glances at you as he struggles with a tie. "I'd Care," he states with all the annoyance in the world.

Fucking ties.

You'd offer your help again, but he turned you down two times already. He's on his own until you're sure he's about given up.

"I'm literally you and I wouldn't wear a tie on my wedding day at all," you say. "Why are you even bothering?"

"Because Jacob would insist I do things right," He answers. "...Do things proper. We're already rushing it as it is. This is the least I can do."

You can't really argue with that.

 _[I can,]_ Lantash chuckles, and you let him speak: **"Selmak, sure. But Jacob? Oh, he had his ways of making the Tok'ra lighten up, Jack."**

"Sure didn't seem like it when I knew him," other you remarks. 

**"You were being Military to Military, or usually getting involved in dangerous situations,"** Lantash says. **"Of course it wouldn't seem like that. Give him a chance to unwind and relax a little, you'd be surprised how much he'd flaunt the rules just like you or Jimmyy."**

"I really doubt that," he says. "But... thanks for the pep talk."

And thus, Jack O'neill discards the tie.

"Felt like a noose around my neck anyways."

* * *

 

**10:38 A.M.**

**HALF-HARLEY MANOR DRIVEWAY.**

"Oh Thank Fucking God We Made It!" You are now Karkat Vantas and you huff, tiredly, as Dave pulls your car up into the Harley Manor Driveway.

You and Dave aren't dressed at all for the wedding yet, unlike the other three folks who just showed up with some rental car.

"Hi, Karkat! Hey, Uncle Dave!"

Daniel Jackson and Sarah Gardner get out of the front, and from te back emerge John, Jade, and Argo, who was looking a little pale actually. But all five of 'em are dressed up pretty fancy and formal.... Well, except for Argo, again. They seem to be wearing pyjama pants underneath their dress. You can just *see* the cute printing on the ankles peeking out from beneath the blues of the dress. 

"Aw, geeze, did you get hit with food poisoning too?" Dave asks as he fetches Nepeta from the back seat.

"Yeah," Argo nods their head. "Something bad at Mcdonalds, i think. John warned me about the chicken."

"I did tell them about the chicken," John agrees. "Wait. Too?"

Dave pulls little Nepeta from the back seat, the poor thing looking a bit better than earlier this morning, but not by much.

"Yeah, we spent a LOT of time in a roadside hospital yesterday," you say. "Then we got stuck in traffic.

Dave further explains the unnecessary: "Karkles here insisted we go to a Shady Ass Burger King instead of Mcdonalds which Nep wanted. She was so sick yesterday we were getting really worried."

"Docs gave her a clean bill of health though," you say.

"Well, if Kanaya brought Shaper with her-" Jade begins.

"Nope," John interjects. "Rose told me before we left Atlantis that Kanaya left it with Doctor Keller in case there was an emergency."

"Drat, there goes that idea," Jade shakes her head. 

Then, Doctor Jackson speaks up, "Speaking of, where are Rose and Kanaya? Are they here yet? They weren't at the hotel when we left."

"How the fuck should I know?" You ask. "We just got here."

Then, there's a beep beep from another car pulling into the driveway.

"Pardon us, Eggs coming through!" And then Joey Claire bolts out of the passenger's seat, spreading her wings and zipping for the house entrance before the car even comes to a full stop.

"Oi!!" Polypa yells out of the driver's window. "That's DANGEROUS, you know!"

"Yell at me later!" Joey yells back.

"...Today's going to be a freaking mess, isn't it?" Dave observes.

"One  can only hope it'll be a fashionable and fond memory of a mess, though," Sarah remarks.

...Yeah, you've got no argument for that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sometimes, Ba'al's clones are just plain stupid. Seriously. Crashing a wedding? Of THIS magnitude? Seriously, dude. 
> 
> Just back off now and maybe you and your fellow clones won't suffer an untimely demise.


	62. SGA:03X17: Sunday - ACT 1.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunday is meant to be a day of rest... But sometimes, that doesn't go anywhere near according to plan.  
> \---  
> Teyla's perspective.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING: The Explosion Happens Directly Here. Someone gets a piece of metal in their back. Not particularly graphic, but feel free to look away if you feel squeamish about explosions happening in close quarters to people.
> 
> Meanwhile, have some explosion warning safety guidelines: Do not touch the Explosion. Do not look directly at the Explosion. Do not submerge the Explosion in water, even partially. And most importantly, under no circumstances should you stand infront of the explosion, please instead seek shelter immediately.

**THREE HOURS EARLIER.**

  
You are now Teyla Emmagan.

"Ah! Teyla!" Carson Beckett calls out, and you stop in the hallway. "Just the girl I was looking for!"

"What can I do for you, Carson?" You ask.

"Well, see, Rodney went off without telling me he was going to the wedding, so I became short a man for my fishing trip. So I'm looking to see if anyone wants to come with me." Beckett explains.

"Were you not also going with Major Lorne?" you ask.

"Aye, but he didn't show up when we were supposed to and he's not answerin' my calls on the Radio," Beckett shakes his head. "I suspect he's slept in, so I'm going to see him now, but- there's a slot open! Want to come fishing?"

"Sorry," you apologize. "But I have other plans. Doctors Kae and Hewston have asked me to train them this afternoon."

"Ah, well, that's nice of you," Beckett seems to deflate a little. "Well, I'll go check on Lorne then. See how he's doing. If I'm lucky, he's just slept through his alarms."

"I hope you have fun with your trip, Carson," you smile and bow to him.

"Thanks, Teyla." He smiles and bows as well.

* * *

 

_CLAK! CLAK! CLAK! **WHUMP!**_

"Ow," Gina remarks rather casually after she hits the floor. "Was that brutal takedown necessary?"

"Sorry about that," Hewston offers her hand, and pulls her fellow Doctor up from the ground. "I felt a little short of breath and needed to end it quick."

You stand, and say, "Perhaps you should take a moment to rest then?"

"I think I should, yeah," Hewston nods, and then goes to sit down on the bench you were sitting on.

You move over to Gina Kae, and take up a training stance. "Now then... here is where you went wrong with defending that strike..."

You show her through the motions, and guide her through what she should have done differently.

"Ah, I see. So I did it like that, huh?" Gina nods. "I see. Shall we take a break?"

"I think it's time for Lunch, yes," you say with a nod. "Let's take a moment to rest, then we will put everything up.

As you work on that, you eye Doctor Hewston, seeing how she is breathing a bit heavier.

You offer her concern, but she waves it off, stating she's fine.

"Speaking of Fine," Gina begins, changing the subject. "I heard from Jade the other day that you have your eyes set on someone from Athos."

"Oh, yes... I did mention something about that," you say. "But I have no idea if he feels the same way or not, so it would not be polite to ask."

"You could just ask him if he likes you, point blank, give no room for doubt," Gina says. "It's what I would do. I'm not one for suffering romantic blunders."

"I could never just say that to him," you shake your head.

"Why now?" Hewston asks, interjecting herself into the conversation. "You like him, don't you?"

"That is not the point," you say.

"I think it's exactly the point," Gina says. 

"The ways of my people are different from yours," you try to excuse it off. "It would be very..."

"You realize he's never going to make the first move if you don't give him some kind of indication that you're attracted to him," Gina says.

"And who says I haven't done that?" you ask, a tiny bit amused.

"Jade did, of course."

"Ah, of course she would."

"And she told me about that most recent incident with the flowers and the-"

"Please, I don't think it bears any further discussion," you cut that off at the pass. 

"Look," Gina says. "You know him better than either of us do, but I wouldn't be surprised if he were blindly oblivious to situation."

"...If that is the case, then I will just let it be, then," you say.

"Fine," Gina says, and changes the subject. "So, do either of you remember the last time so many people had the day off like this?"

"I think it was Heightmeyer's doing primarily," Hewston pauses, looking a little pale. "She was rallying for the brass to give a mandatory rest day, and Miss Aiikho jumped on it first and foremost."

"My people have a day of rest every four nights," you provide that fun fact.

"Oooh, now that is Civiliz-" Hewston stops, and starts coughing instead.

"Are you alri-?" Gina takes a step forwards.

Your instincts flare up and you grab the woman and pull her to the ground- flaring your flame powers to divert flames away from you both.

A moment later- you're severely dazed, and your ears are ringing, and your back feels... OW.

_PUNCTURED._

You roll to your side, seeing the room is on fire. There is no sign of Doctor Hewston anywhere, save for the burning mess on the wall behind where she was sitting.

"Wh- What just happened!?" Gina coughs. 

"...I..." You can't speak- Your whole back flares in pain. "AH!"

"Teyla??" Gina's voice grows faintly distant.. "Teyla, oh my god- MEDICAL TEAM TO THE GYM! MEDICAL TEAM TO-"

The next thing you are aware of, you're lying belly down on a stretcher as Doctor Beckett is talking to you, trying to keep you conscious. You must have passed out.

Beckett tells you that you have a piece of metal jabbed into your back.

He's going to get it out and you'll be fine, he tells you...

...You pass out again just the same.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ....Yeah. Okay. That was short. But I'd rather quarantine a potentially squeamish/triggering event into its own little chapter that can be skipped over. 
> 
> In good news, though, I've finish writing to the end of the act. It's smooth sailing on to the End of Act 6 Act 3.
> 
> Similarly good news, I've played through the first two Volumes of Pesterquest. I have no idea what meta-tomfoolery is going on here, but it's something confounding, that's for sure.


	63. SG1: 10X20: Unending - ACT 2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Series Finale. Ten seasons of Stargate SG-1 wraps up with a Wedding finale for Jack and Sam. Meanwhile, something unknown lurks in the shadows, waiting to strike.  
> \---  
> More guests arrive, a car gets trashed, and Jack and Sam actually get hitched.

**11:40 A.M.**

**HALF-HARLEY MANOR BACK YARD.**

"Okay, let's get one thing absolutely straight here, Roxies," your name is Rodney Mckay, and you level a firm gaze as Roxy Egbert and Roxy Lalonde. "This Music System you've hodge-podged together is one stray Zillyum fluctuation away from snap, crackle, popping into oblivion. That is to say, I'm impressed that you magicked it into existence to begin with, and I'm horrified by the fact that if someone so much as sneezes wrong it's likely to fry out and we'll be without music for the entire evening."

"But as long as nobody sneezes we should be fine, right?" Roxy Egbert asks, flitting her eyelashes.

"I think he was being sarcastic about it being a sneeze," Roxy Lalonde remarks, shaking his head.

"Just make sure nobody spills any liquids on the speakers, too," you add. "I've done all I can to prevent us from accidentally starting any fires. But please, next time you want to do something like this, just hire a professional DJ, please."

And thus, you move along, adjusting your tie along the way. God, it's way too hot for this today. Isn't it supposed to be Fall soon? Good grief. And wasn't someone supposed to be dealing with the weather today?

You spot Okurii Leijon and Mikari Aiikho over in one corner by what's rapidly been set up to be the water table. Mikari gives you a nod in passing. Okurii waves and smiles.

And then just a bit elsewhere, you see Teal'c speaking with Egeria-slash-one of the various Joey Claires you're aware of. And isn't that just weird. Three of the four people responsible for Atlantis being a thing gathered in one spot.

No, actually, make that all four. You spot General O'neill peering out from a window up on the Harley manor's second floor.

Fuck. This is literally a gathering of everyone who could ever be taken out in one shot.

You find Jake Harley, and pull him aside. "What's the security like for this venue?" You ask, a little paranoid.

"Relax, we've got the Astro Mega in geo-synch orbit, scanning for cloaked ships or other such flying things entering the area," Jake explains. "Plus, some of the SGC's finest are guarding the roads in and out for a good couple of miles. AND nobody who's entering the radius around this place is getting in without us knowing. We're all tagged with beaming transponders, after all. We've vetted everything, and asked Cassie to plug any holes. We're fine."

"Alright, that makes me a little more relieved, but still..." You feel oddly exposed right now. "Why didn't we just do this on Diaspora?"

* * *

 

**11:50 A.M.**

**CLOAKED AL'KESH.**

"I have to say, this is quite the impressive security web they have over Hauntswitch." You are Ba'al, and you state this to _ **Ba'al,**_ who got this whole information presentation made up by **Ba'al**.

You three are but a small handful of the LAST ONES.

There's the original, out there somewhere, sure, but he's not making any new clones.

Who knows what he's even planning. You think you heard him mumble something about snitches getting stitches? Whatever.

It doesn't matter what the fuck THE ORIGINAL is doing, because fuck him. He said this was a bad idea and you all beg to differ!

You're going to crash this party even if it kills you.

 **"We're unlikely to get anywhere near the town without being shot down,"** Ba'al observes.

 ** _"We do have that Asgard beaming technology,"_ **Ba'al states. _**"We could beam in. Or we could beam them all out."**_

"No, they've got signal jammers all over the place," you point out. "We'd never get a lock. We'll need a distraction.

 **"Wait,"** Ba'al pointed out. **"There's a strange energy fluctuation near the house. Looks like a distortion in their shielding. We could beam in right there."**

"Ahha, keep an eye on that," you say, grinning. "We might have our window of opportunity."

* * *

 

**12:00 P.M.**

**HALF-HARLEY MANOR BACK YARD.**

"John! Rose! No! Those flowers are for aisle decoration, not for your hair!"

Your name is John Sheppard, and for a moment, you are horribly confused.

Then, you spot your younger alternate self trying to pry flowers loose from a vase with clear intent to add them to the large bouquet of flowers that adorn your younger alternate sister's hair.

"Whoops!" And then both of them start running away from a very frustrated Roxy Egbert. Your poor mother sounds stressed out right now.

"Sorry, Sorry!" And then Jude comes running in. "Jade sneeze-teleported and then the kids were everywhere and we've been trying to corral them all and-"

"Don't worry about it, Jude!!" Roxy huffs. "Just- help me find them before John and Rose put flowers in everybody's hair!"

You glance across the yard at your own sister and her date, and you see her smirk slyly as she casually accepts a flower from her younger self as she dashes behind her briefly before absconding in another direction. Then, your sister Rose Lalonde puts that flower in her hair, and whistles an innocent tune as Roxy side-eyes her.

You can't help but laugh, finish getting the glasses of water you were getting, and head over to where your Jade and Argo are, along with their younger selves and Okurii's kid.

"So you still don't know how to stop the Sneeze-ports?" Jade asks of her younger self.

"Nnnoo? I just. It just happens! I can't make it stop!" Younger Jade scrunches up her nose in that adorable way yours hasn't done in.... A very long time. "Nnngh. It's like a pressure just builds up and boom! Insta Teleports for everyone!!!"

You hand one of the glasses of water to Argo, and another to Nepeta Strider (Nepp for short and distinction), and the last to Nepeta Leijon.

"So, you got bad food too, huh?" Nepp asks, sounding sour as she sips at her water.

"Yeah... Momma got really worried about me last night." Nepeta answers, and you notice that even though she'd gotten the cast off of broken limb she'd taken to doing something strikingly asymmetrical that's making it hard for you to remember if it was her arm or leg that got broken. She's wearing a single lime green leg warmer over her left leg, and a near shoulder length arm warmer glove in an olive green color scheme over her left arm. Her right side limbs are left bare in comparison. It looks fancy, intentionally so, and goes pretty well with the simple black dress she's wearing.

In comparison, her crow-winged name sharer is wearing a light sun dress in orange with a red jacket over top that makes her seem a bit paler than she should be. Though, that could literally be because of last nights aforementioned food poisoning lingering as well.

In comparing outfits, those two have it very simple and generic kid formal compared to Argo... who still has completely bucked the trend of being fancy by wearing their pyjama pants underneath the originally planned pale grass green dress.

"I'm pretty sure it's powers related, not food related at this point," Argo laments to you. "Three Nepetas getting sick on the same night before a wedding? It's stupid, and-"

_**"HAS ANYBODY SEEN SILER!!?"** _

The sudden shout cuts off Argo's musings, and all eyes dart back to the house to see Karkat holding a hand over a cellphone. He's also standing on a chair, and is dressed in an Earth normal formal wedding suit like almost every other guy here. (The only exception is Teal'c, who's wearing Jaffa formal, in contrast.)

 ** _"NO? NOBODY?"_** Karkat scowls. _"DAMN IT!"_ He returns to the phone, and you hear him muttering- "Bring his car here, I want to look at it personally."

"...Today's not going well, is it?" Nepeta asks then sips at her water.

"Nope," Nepp answers, sipping at her water.

"It's going to be a long day," Argo sighs, then starts sipping at their water.

* * *

 

**12:21 P.M.**

George Hammond, Janet Fraiser, Missy Fraiser, and Skaara and his wife Kairi arrived together in the same car. And ol' George sauntered out onto the lawn with a grin on his face as he started greeting everyone.

Janet settled in around the Atlantis group for a little bit, and Missy went to go get water to drink.

You are now Polypa Goezee, and you figure you might as well get this out of the way.

"Hey, Missy," you greet, grabbing a cup to fill with water.

"Oh, hey, Polypa," Missy nods in acknowledgement. "What do you want?'

You wince at the slight bitter undertone to her otherwise casual question.

"Just... wanted to come by to apologize if it felt like we put too much pressure on you at any point during, you know." You say.

Missy side eyes you, considers that, then sighs. "Apology accepted. Honestly, I'm just glad that things worked out the way they did. The IOA was getting a bit big for their breeches."

You chuckle a little. "Well, yeah, that they were."

"I just wish Hal were here," Missy says. "It doesn't feel right without him here after Dirk died."

"Yeah, well," you glance up at the skies, starting to cloud over slightly. "Maybe if we're lucky whatever rift he got shoved into'll drop him out here."

"That would be nice," Missy nods.

* * *

 

**12:45 P.M.**

**HALF-HARLEY MANOR GARAGE**

Siler's car was trashed.

Not in the sense that Siler's car had been utterly wrecked by whatever had happened to it, although that was accurate, but...

There was a literal trash-bin fused through the back seats into the trunk, along with some of the contents of said bin similarly scattered through the car's interior, looking like there had been a horrible accident with a Transport Beam. And going by the date of a NEWSPAPER FRONT PAGE that was somehow suspended inside the glass of the rear passenger side window- the trash bin itself had been chronologically displaced in the process of whatever had happened to make the car, well, like this in the first place.

How far displaced?

Well, the newspaper clipping was from 1983, for starters, and was talking about some grisly accident at a pizza parlor involving an animatronic suit. So, pretty fucking far displaced from ye current year of 2002.

Your name is Davis Strider, and you stare at the wreckage with the utter most sense of disbelief.

"Okay, so," Karkat begins. "We are so not telling Jack and Sam about this. Not yet, at least."

"Obviously," Joey and you chime in at the same time.

"Shit," Dammek stares at the car, even as Callie examines some of the debris where it fused into the car's interior. "You don't think Siler was caught inside this thing when it happened, do you?"

"It's always something, isn't it?" Callie asks, picking out something from the glove box. "I think we're dealing with aftershocks of what happened in Corinth with Damara."

"And why's that?" You ask.

"Because I just found a fragment of Excaliber's blade lodged inside the glove box," Callie holds the object up for all of you to see.

Sure enough, that's a glowing chunk of metal that snapped clean off of Excaliber alright.

"So not just time jumps, but parallel dimensions too," Karkat groans. "Fucking hell. Why now?"

"Hauntswitch was home to a very big temporal and dimensional disturbance not too long ago," Joey says. "I wouldn't be surprised if the walls just aren't thin here in Hauntswitch."

"Huh? When was that?" Dammek asks.

"Before we went to D'ni," Callie reminds him.

"Oh, fuck, right, that weird ass thing where I hit my head and kept forgetting what we were talking about," Dammek shakes his head. "God that creeps me out."

"So.... we've got a missing Siler," you summarize, "And a car that's literally been trashed with Time and Space Shenanigans. Anyone ELSE feel like this is a fucking ominous omen and we should all request an immediate beam up to the Astro Mega?"

"Party crashers suddenly seem like the least important problem right now," Karkat shakes his head. "How do we deal with this?"

"How do we deal with what?"

And then all of you turn to look, not at all shocked to see Mordred standing in the garage's side door, dressed in one hell of a snazzy red suit. Damn it, why did he get the red suit and you didn't? Lazy, Strider! You're off brand in this lame ass black tux!

"Shit, don't tell me we're dealing with aftershocks of what Damara did," Mordred surmises upon immediately spotting that chunk of Excaliblade in Callie's hand.

"Let's keep this quiet until after the wedding or until we know where Siler is," Joey decides. "No need to unnecessarily panic everybody."

* * *

 

**12:55 P.M.**

**HALF-HARLEY MANOR YARD.**

Everyone except Siler was here. Even Walter and Ferettii had made it out, and you don't think you've seen Ferettii around in years.

Something was wrong, and you could smell it.

Literally, smell it. There was something awful scenting in the air, wafting in from outside town, as much as John was trying to keep the breeze from blowing it that way.

You are Jade Jackson, and you can just almost guess what it is.

Like... blood, on the air, except distant. Muted. Just barely present enough to make everyone who noticed it be on edge.

Jack O'neill stands at the alter at the end of the aisle as everyone gets to their seats.

Unsurprisingly, his Best Man position was filled by Skaara, Teal'c, Jonas, Jimmyy, and Daniel. Yes, all five of them at once. Save for Teal'c, they're all wearing the same suits they'd been wearing before, except now they each all have Stargate Chevron pins over their hearts.

You suspect Uncle Jack just couldn't choose, so he chose them all. Mitchel doesn't seem angry he got left out, though, considering how he's happily chatting away with Mordred, Artoria, and Vala a few rows back and on the other side of the aisle from you, John, and Argo.

Sam's array of Bridesmades are getting into position now, Callie, Morgan, Cassandra, Okurii, and Janet standing all in a row, now dressed in their fancy bridesmaids dresses- primarily a deep blue most people here are familiar with in seeing as a variation of the SGC Blue uniforms, with scattered orange triangular chunks you're pretty sure are meant to be the glowing parts of Stargate Chevrons, completing the thematic matching of the Best Men.

Who the hell had time to make all of these things?

No, you suspect it's all one of the Roxy's doings- void-magic-ing it up from nowhere.

Roxy stops the music from the quiet formal thing she had going, and the anticipation builds as silence rises...

Then, Roxy plays the thing everyone's been waiting for.

The Pipe Organ rendition of "Here Comes the Bride."

Jake and Chixie open up the back doors to the mansion, and Out walks Sam, accompanied in arm by her brother, Mark. Sam's dress is astonishingly shimmery. It looks white at first glance, but as she walks, and the light hits it, it shimmers like the reflective surface of a Stargate eventhorizon.

Another Roxy's doing as well, no doubt.

Mark's kids begin their duty, and start scattering flowers across the aisle ahead of the Bride's slow walk.

As Sam walks past you, John, and Argo, you catch her eyes, and give her a wide smile and a thumbs up. She smiles back in kind.

Soon, Mark and Sam reach the end of the aisle, and Mark moves to his seat as Sam moves to take her position across from Jack.

The Priest steps up, and he holds his hands out wide. "Dearly Beloved, we are Gathered here Today to celebrate the union of Jack O'neill and Samantha Carter..."

You just hope that after everything that's happened, nobody dares yell during the objection phase.

But, the ceremony goes on uninterrupted. The long winded introduction with the Priest talking about the hardships Jack and Sam went through to get to here, and then Jack and Sam exchanging vows- which were beautiful and amazing, but nowhere near as brief as Television and Movies ever makes them out to be.

And as you hoped, objections come and pass without incident, and the Priest declares them Husband and Wife and they can kiss, and the audience roars in applause.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Poor Siler. It's always something with him, isn't it?
> 
> \---
> 
> I was tempted to write out a fuuuuull sequence of vows and shit, but... at a real wedding it goes on fooooorrreeeevvveeerrr... on TV they always cut that stuff short and MAN, I can see why. You could fill a whole hour's worth of TV with just the vows alone. Flashback sequences and shit. Make a whole *SEASON* out of it. 
> 
> Maybe How I Met Your Mother could get away with that, but, shit, this is Stargate and Homestuck meshed together, here!! I didn't got time for that! Not in term of story flow, at any rate. We've got *plot* to deal with that isn't just *fluff!* Can't have 100% candy here, gotta have some meat to balance it, right??


	64. SGA:03X17: Sunday - ACT 2.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunday is meant to be a day of rest... But sometimes, that doesn't go anywhere near according to plan.  
> \---  
> Gordon's perspective.

**FIVE HOURS EARLIER.**

"Hey, Ronon Dex, right?" you are now Gordon Freeman, and you smile as you see the Satedan wandering the hallways. "You got any plans for today?"

"Not really, no," he shakes his head.

"Me, I've got a date with the **_*~Firing Range~*!_ **Wanna join?" You ask.

"Sure thing," Ronon nods with barely any consideration needed.

* * *

 

The rapid fire sounds of your beloved SUBMACHINE GUN sends a thrilling jolt down your entire everything.

"Ah! How I've missed that sound!" you feel... very light internally now. "You know, for all the crazy ass shit I went through in Black Mesa and beyond, there's one thing I've grown to love."

"And what's that?" Dex asks, readying a handgun and aiming it at his own target.

"How Relaxing just firing off a dozen rounds in a few seconds can be," you say. "It might sound weird, but for me, there's nothing better right now. You'd think that's weird, right? I mean, I thought it was weird. I spent so long getting *away* from all the fighting that you'd think I'd be sick of it, right? But nope! Turns out that all the science shit just stresses me out more than fighting the aliens ever did and all the gunplay did MORE to calm me down than anything else!"

"You're right," Ronon fires off several of his empowered blasts.

**_PCHBWAM! PCHBWAM! PCHBWAM! PCHBWAM! PCHBWAM! PCHBWAM!_ **

"It does sound weird." He finishes. "But I can sort of understand. The act of aiming and firing... keeps your mind from wandering, right?"

"Something like that," you say. "I mean, some people play golf, some people go fishing, some people read a book... But me? Man, nothing beats a good recoil and the sound of bullets breaking shit. Well, nothing except Grenades! But it's not like they're ever going to let me practice indoors with any of THOSE. Haha. Man, oh, did I ever tell you about the time I fought off some Combine soldiers in this hell trap of a gauntlet?"

"...Probably not," Ronon says.

You focus on reloading, as you speak. "So, okay, I'm riding this stupid ass air boat down a drained river, and I come up on these sealed up drydock doors. So I have to go investigating the place. Long story short, I find a box of GRENADES just before I come to this death corridor where this Combine guy's set up a mounted machine gun on a barricade. So I grab a Grenade and I hurl it at him. Boom! Now, you'd think that's the end of it, right? But NO! Right behind him is this door leading to a large room and there are more Combine inside. So I take a grenade, and I hurl it inside! Guess what they yelled out?"

"Grenade?" Ronon guesses.

 _ **"GRENADE!"**_ You yell in turn. "Then they go boom. I check, there's survivors, they try firing, I throw another Grenade! Guess what they yell! **_GRENADE!_** AGAIN! _BOOM_!" You laugh. "Oh, man, I kept that up for a good few tosses before they all were down. It was hilarious! Each time I threw one in, save for the last, they yelled _Grenade_! Like it was any big surprise! What's more surprising is how clustered up they were!"

"Nothing more surprising than a sudden explosion," Ronon says.

You both fire off bursts of ammo at your targets.

* * *

 

"So, anyways, I finally look at the guy, and he gives me this LOOK," You continue explaining as you walk to the Atlantis cafeteria. "And he says in the damnedest tone imaginable, 'Don't think I've forgotten about that Casserole incident.' And then it HITS ME." You laugh. "I was the one who blew up his damned Casserole in the microwave back at Black Mesa! You'd think it was the end of the world I did that for him or something! I mean, it kinda was, but the world was gonna end regardless of if I blew up his Casserole or not."

Ronon snorts what you've come to interpret as an amused snort or muffled laughter.

"But really," you say. "The thing that gets to ME the most, is. Like. Okay. So I blew up your casserole in the microwave. But why were you cooking a CASSEROLE IN THE MICROWAVE TO BEGIN WITH!?" You shake your head, astonished. "Anyways, so then Alex-" you stop.

...

Shit.

You haven't thought about her in a while.

"...Hey, Ronon," you ask, a bit more somberly. "Real honest, non bombastic question here. Did you ever leave anyone behind on Sateda. Someone important to you?"

"Too many," he says.

"Wife?" you ask.

"Close enough," he shrugs.

"Yeah, man, I..." you shake your head. "God, I thought she was one of the ones I could TRUST to have my back after everything that happened. And then that CIA-Wanabe bastard goes and... He went and..."

You close your eyes, and breathe heavily.

"Sorry, man, I think I gotta take a few minutes to myself first. Go ahead and get lunch for yourself. Yeah?"

"Alright. Meet you back at the Firing Range in an hour?"

"Sure," you nod, waving it off.

You take at least twenty minutes to center yourself and head back into the cafeteria. Ronon's already long gone.

Doctor Beckett accosts you while you're getting food.

Something about fishing and-?

Then there's an explosion.

* * *

 

" _Fucking Fucking Fucking **SON OF A FUCK!**_ " you swear rapidly as you run down Atlantis hallways even more rapidly.

Doctor Hewston is DEAD.

Zelenka's reporting that the epicenter of the explosion was exactly where she was sitting when-

_FUCK._

**_FUCK._ **

**_FUCKING FUCK._ **

"God damn it, please tell me I'm wrong about all of this!" You rush for your lab, and start reviewing the data from last night's incident...

Shit shit shit shit shit...

....

And you're not wrong.

"Fuck." You go to the City Radio, and request, "Zelenka, Whoever's in Admin Right Now. This is Freeman. Come to my office right now. This is IMPORTANT AS FUCK."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Freeman's been through some shit. Atleast one of his stories here is actually extrapolated from events in the Freemans Mind series- specifically the half centered on Half Life 2. I think the most recent episode at the time of writing this, actually.
> 
> What episode number was that again? I can't remember.


	65. SG1: 10X20: Unending - ACT 3.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Series Finale. Ten seasons of Stargate SG-1 wraps up with a Wedding finale for Jack and Sam. Meanwhile, something unknown lurks in the shadows, waiting to strike.  
> \---  
> Golden Time Lover's Gonna Blow Your Mind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Note for Music Sequence this chapter: Only about half the song plays in the chapter itself. Synching ain't mandatory for this chapter.

**2:16 P.M.**

**HALF-HARLEY MANOR, YARD.**

"In Three... Two... One...!"

Your name is John Egbert...

And as you watch Aunt Sam throw the bouquet of flowers into the air, you subtly tweek the breeze to make it fly off course.

Naturally, you feel the breeze suddenly shift it back onto course out of your control, and the thing lands firmly in Older Rose's hands.

You turn to glare up at your own older lookalike and, John Sheppard gives you a condescending look for the ill timed prank.

Damn it. You sure miserably fooled up the exchange on that pranksters gambit.

* * *

 

**2:30 P.M.**

**HALF-HARLEY MANOR, MAIN HALL.**

The early dinner/late lunch of the Reception was in full swing once everyone who needed to had changed out of their fancier clothes for something a bit more casual.

You are now Joey Claire, and you can't help but feel- Strangness of the Siler situation aside- that everything has gone as smoothly as could possibly be, well, gone smoothly.

Still, you've got Arai Beetles discretely patrolling the estate, just to be on the safe side.

* * *

 

**2:45 P.M.**

Your name is Artoria Pendragon, and despite you not knowing anybody, really, who was here for this... You feel like it was a good thing you came.

It's amazing to see how far Earth, and it's apparent intergalactic neighbors, has advanced over the years... and at the same time, how little has changed as well.

Though the ceremony itself was unfamiliar, you recognized the standard union bonds and practices, and weddings, as always, are an amazing time of celebration and unification.

You sip simply on your tea, and take it all in.

* * *

 

**3:14 P.M.**

"Okay, but I just have to ask what it was with Ancients that when it comes to custom Gate Addresses, that they'd go so... grand and ostentations about it?" Daniel asked, half joking half serious as he sipped at a can of beer.

"Honestly," your name is Jonas Quinn, "I think they just had a thing for making their address systems as complicated as possible. I mean, they have their basic gate address system constantly readjusting itself to account for Stellar Drift, which means that their fixed address system has to work on a different coordinate principle than normal... so why didn't they make the Fixed addresses the normal and the stellar drift one the backup?"

"Well, if you ask me," Sarah begins. "The problem really comes with why they made the Pegasus Gates so-"

 _"Excuuuuuse me everybody!"_ Roxy Egbert's voice cuts into the conversation over the loudspeakers. _"We're about to open the dance floor in just a minute here, so if you'd all kindly gather outside to the dance floor, Jack and Sam are gonna have the first dance of the evening, and then you guys can either keep eating or start dancing like the Party animals you are! WOOO!"_

You glance around, and see Roxy Lalonde hanging his head, sighing at his alternate self's antics.

Either way, you all gather outside, and Jack and Sam- wearing dressed down and much more casual versions of their wedding suit/dress, take the center stage.

It's a stage that wasn't there before, and you suspect it was more Roxyian Void Magic at work.

Roxy Egbert gives a nod to the couple, and queues up the first dance song of the evening- Jack and Sam's Song.

Much to Chixie's surprise when the first opening notes begin playing, [you don't think may people were expecting Golden Time Lover to start playing](https://youtu.be/Sc1gwRnSVzY?t=3).

**_[No More Hesitating, But my Body is Shakin', Not Obeyin']_ **

Hand in hand, you watch as Sam smiles at Jack as they start to slowly move across the stage, with him leading.

_**[Slowly Decaying, And my Self Control- it is Breakin']** _

Ah, but yeah, these Lyrics are definitely them to a tee so far.

_**[Even the sun and the moon, I can't count on them, my luck is all spent]** _

...And speaking of, how many bad luck situations HAS SG-1 gotten itself through over the years?

_**[But this isn't the end, I'm repeating those words again and again...]** _

A pause in the lyrics, and you realize you missed Jack dipping Sam in some fancy spin that had everyone else clapping at that.

_**[They're poor odds I'm facin', but you won't catch me fleein', I'm not leavin',]** _

Jack rights Sam back vertically, and she takes the lead now.

_**[Don't need a reason, I know the future's ahead let's seize it.]** _

You really need to go over what various Earth dancing styles are called, because you can't tell what this is supposed to be they're doing.

_**[And it's a chance that I'm takin'- Eyes on the Prize, I'm not holdin' back-]** _

Everyone has their eyes on the dance, or is taking photos of it, you notice. Makes you wish you'd thought to bring a camera with you.

_**['Cause the pride of winning is all you need!]** _

Oh, but yeah, Jake has a video camera, good on him. Atleast there's going to be video of this.

_**[I wanna dine on the sweet wine of victory, but we may only get the stale taste of defeat.]** _

You look back at them dancing, and see Sam's the one dipping Jack this time, and he's loving it with a big girn and a laugh.

_**[But it's fine either way, I'll take these threads of fate, And I will create a new world of our own!]** _

...You glance at Mordred, and see that he's gotten distracted by something, and is glancing away towards the horizon where it's getting somewhat darker.

_**[Do Or Die, Golden Time Lover's gonna Blow your Mind!]** _

Huh, that's not good. Hopefully it won't rain on the party.

_**[Raise the Stakes - Poker Face- Give Me All You Got, Here We Go! Yeah, I know those illusions will drag you into it...]** _

And then Mordred absconds, and you notice that Joey Claire is moving too, and... They're walking towards Davis?

**_[It's the same, endless game, but somehow I'll find my way-]_ **

You double take, and see him standing in two places at once. He's using his time powers? Why?

_**[It's a fine, Borderline, But I'll walk it still- what's the Price- Won't think twice-]** _

You move after them, and that's when you notice that Dammek and Callie are moving as well.

**_[I will pay it right here in this moment...]_ **

Shit. Something's happening, isn't it?

_**[For you I'd give the world, and you know it.]** _

You leave the Party Behind, and hope that Jack and Sam will forgive your absence from the rest of the song.

* * *

 

_**[In this Game we're playing, only fact is what beats the fiction, Baby.]** _

You are now Davis Strider, and thanks to some time loop shenanigans, you know how to time this exactly so that you arrive outside the Harley Manor Driveway right as some sort of temporal anomaly begins to open...

_**[So No Delaying make your move before they see through it.]** _

...And then it spews out an unconscious man.

_**[Reading between all the lines, you'll know at first glance your senses are enhanced.]** _

"Oh shit, Siler!" Joey cries out, and moves to check on him.

_**[So don't waste the chance to play your hand.]** _

"Let's get him back inside the house," you say, eyeing Jonas as he catches up with your group of break-aways.

**_['Cause when your fate, it all weights on your game sense, you've gotta make a choice between the dark and the light.]_ **

Together, you and Mordred grab Siler by the shoulders and legs, and haul him back towards the house.

_**[Your demons you may meet, yeah, you may face defeat, but not if you greet them with a fearless soul.]** _

Jonas and Joey ensure they get the doors, so you can get inside easily-

**_[Take a stand - clap your hands- and just do the best you can]_ **

-and then they guide you up the stairs out of line of sight of everyone else so you can get Siler somewhere safe to lie down.

_**[A worthwhile fighting style, you and me can go on as one!]** _

"What happened to him?" Jonas asks as you climb the first turn around and continue heading up higher..

**_[Attention! Don't ya go alone! Your Luck, it's got limits.]_ **

"No idea yet," you say. "We'll get Doc' Fraiser to look at him in a minute, just as soon as the song's over."

_**[A detailed fairy tale, give it life and make it real]** _

"If we had to guess, though?" Joey frowns, "Whatever happened to him happened first when he was driving her, and trashed his car."

_**[It's a sweet victory, you'll never forget. Come with me - you ready?]** _

You make it to the second floor, and Joey directs you to Jude's old room.

_**[Throw away your doubt there's nothing to fear now!]** _

Jonas gets the door, and you and Mordred lie Siler down on the hilariously too small for him kids bed.

_**[Take a step, and we'll move up this staircase.]** _

...Yeah yeah, Song, thanks for the irony.

* * *

 

**3:47 P.M.**

**JUDE'S OLD BEDROOM.**

For those in the know, the mood of the Party had fallen by some small degree upon hearing news of Siler's current state.

Most everyone was kept out of the loop, to keep spirits high for now, and to not ruin the happy mood going around...

But, well, you weren't spared that kindness.

Your name is Missy Fraiser, and you just can't find anything wrong with Poor Siler except that you literally can't open his eyes.

"His eyelids just flat out refuse to open," you inform the people who knew about the car situation. "I don't know how it's possible, but it's like they were fused together from the inside."

"So... do we want to even try contacting Atlantis to find out if we can get Shaper down here on the double?" Strider asks.

"Maybe," You say. "At this point, it might be the only thing that can get us any information on what's wrong with him..."

"It's something we'll have to-" Joey stops suddenly. "Oh _FUCK US."_

"What is it?" Mordred asks.

"Three Ba'als just beamed into the forest down the road from the house and just surprise Zatted the guards there," Joey informs you all. "They're on their way here now."

"ETA?" Strider asks.

"About 20 minutes," Joey answers.

"I'll go radio the guards inbetween," Vantas speaks up. "And contact Astro Mega just to be on the safe side."

* * *

**3:50 P.M.**

**THE ASTRO MEGASHIP BRIDGE.**

"Oh Fuck, that's why we didn't see it," Ashler exclaims.

"Why's that?" You are now Tegiri Kalbur, and you're a tad annoyed.

"There's an energy echo matching a Cloaked Al'kesh out over the Pacific ocean, low orbit, sitting stationary," she reports. "We were looking for moving signatures, not stationary."

"Next time, we add that to the scanning protocols," you growl. "Fuck it. Let's blow that Al'kesh out of the water."

* * *

 

**4:07 P.M.**

**OUTSIDE THE HALF HARLEY MANOR ESTATE DRIVEWAY.**

Quietly, as quietly as could be, a couple of those who could put up one hell of a powered fight were gathered together in preparation to intercept the trio of Ba'als marching their way towards the estate, and quickly incapacitating anybody who got in their way.

These were Ba'als on a mission.

Your name is John Sheppard, and if you play your part right, they'll get squished fairly quickly.

You've got wind control, Missy's got Space crunching, Jade's got her shotgun blasting, Rose has her teleporting, Argo's got their time crunching, Mordred's got Artoria's copy of Excaliber on loan, Davis has his time cloning, and Joey...

Well, Joey shouldn't be here but she's serving as your eyes on the Ba'als thanks to the Arai beetles. And then there's Polypa too, flames sparking all along her arms, looking ready to burn something to a crisp. She's hiding back in the vast parking lot full of cars, a bit further back, ready to strike at a moments notice.

"Alright, they'll be here any minute," Joey summarizes. "We should be able to see them approaching, and get rid of them pretty quickly."

"Is it just me or is anyone else nervous about another rift opening up right here and swallowing us up?" Davis asks. "Because this is right where Siler got dumped out at our feet."

"Relax," Jade says. "As long as we get this done quick, those Ba'als are toast and nobody has to worry about this. Then once everyone's left the party to go home, we'll deal with the time rift shit."

"Guys," Karkat sneaks over. "We've got everyone inside that we can be due to the threat of rain, but they're going to notice pretty quick that we're not in there."

"Just keep 'em distracted," you tell him. "We'll finish things off just as soon as-"

"Shit!" Joey swears, and before she can explain--

 **"Just as soon as what?"** A Ba'al steps into view, followed by two others, dressed identically. **"We crash the party and have our fun with everyone?"**

All three of them must have rehearsed this, because their eyes flash in synch.

"Yeah, sorry, but that's not going to happen," you say, readying your hammer.

"Before any of you attack us," one of the Ba'als speaks. "Please be aware we DO have force fields active. Your attacks will bounce right off of us."

"Of course you do," Mordred growled, tensing Excaliber, and pointing it at them. "Just answer me this. Those shields of yours- do you wanna wager they can protect against a fucking Excaliblast to the face?"

 ** _"We're using modified Spaceship Forcefield Generators for personal use,"_** the remaining Ba'al smugs. **_"Of course they can. We didn't want to be so under prepared that we'd be taken out by literally the most powerful sword in all of-"_**

Between one word and the next, the world suddenly changed.

 **"-human...**. _histor._...y..."

And there was suddenly only one Ba'al, where whence there was three.

It's dark. Super dark. Fog chokes the air, and trees tower above, clustered so tightly together that you can't see anything at all.

Blood.

You smell blood in the air.

The breeze is stiff, and nearly absent here.

You hear the gurgling of water, a creek, and then light illuminates the area.

Everyones eyes are drawn upwards at the beast covered in glowing eyes. It's limbs spiral out, fractal like, in all impossible dimensions. It's made of teeth and bones and eyes... And its face snarls, like a snake crossed with a wolf, and it's eyes---

There are voids where eyes should actually be.

It roars- snapping an arm forward, Grabbing the Ba'al that made it to where-ever this even is by the face and then-

The Goa'uld screams. And he screams, and by everything that's horrible does he scream.

And then he falls to the ground, unconscious, eyes closed shut just like Siler and just as unresponsive.

The Creature turns its attention towards you all-

The Breeze ruffles suddenly like a rippling cloak.

_**SLASH- CLANG!!!** _

The beast howled- and you see a glistening, bloodied sword held by a cloaked figure that suddenly appeared, and then flash-step-darts across at multiple angles-

**_WASH! CLANG! SWOOSH! TWING!!! KICK!!!!!!!!_ **

And the creature's head snapped backwards from the momentum- its body staggering as it was temporarily stunned, and the mysterious, Cloaked Savior backed away, hopping a few steps before settling next to Davis, who suddenly exclaimed-

"Dirk??"

"RUN!" The cloaked figure orders. "NOW!!"

And thus, you all follow his lead, and you RUN AWAY from the massive beast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ahahaha. Well. That's a weekend cliffhanger, isn't it?
> 
> ...Those Ba'als really shouldn't have tried this shit And now they got totally... uh... Ended? 
> 
> So. YEAH. Things are about to get Meta. Preeetyy heavily meta, even. To say more would spoil. But, uh... Yeah. Here's where the fuck Hal wound up when he got booted through that rift.


	66. SGA:03X17: Sunday - ACT 3.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunday is meant to be a day of rest... But sometimes, that doesn't go anywhere near according to plan.  
> \---  
> Beckett and Zelenka's perspectives.

**FOURTEEN HOURS EARLIER.**  
  
**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 28TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 04/07/0006.**

  
You are Doctor Carson Beckett, and you glance away from the medical results to watch the process unfold.

"You know, I'd like to think I'm an easy guy to work for," Freeman paces infront of the two scientists dressed in nothing but a bath robe. "I don't micro-manage, I don't tell you guys what to do unless it's something I'm sure is very dangerous, and I generally let you guys figure things out on your own. But This? This goes beyond that." He glares at Doctors Hewston and Watson. "When I give you instructions. _I EXPECT_ you to follow them for _YOUR SAFETY and EVERYONE ELSES._ "

"Look, if- if we could just-" Hewston starts.

"Oh! No! No you absolutely _**CAN! NOT!**_ You are NOT interrupting me, alright?" Freeman raises a finger. "I was having an _AMAZING_ dream about reprogramming a Stargate to produce _BUCKETS OF ICE CREAM EX-NIHILO_ when I got woken up about this. So you can just stand there and listen."

They nod.

You feel safe to glance back at the results.

"I sent you two to shut DOWN an Ancient Lab that was turned on. Turn _**OFF**_ everything. Not to touch anything that wasn't an _**OFF BUTTON.** _As Doctor Mckay said it on every single one of HIS expeditions to shut things down, 'Don't touch anything unless you want another 'turned into a _**BUNNY RABBIT'**_ incident!' Paraphrased, I mean. But you get the point. Don't you? No touchy unless it's a power OFF button! But what did you do?"

"We thought it was a-" Watson starts, and he sounds terrified. Poor lad.

 _ **"YOU THOUGHT WRONG!** _You _**TURNED ON** _something _**THAT WAS ALREADY TURNED OFF!!**_ " You glance back in time to see Freeman running his hands through his hair, frazzled. "I mean, for crying out loud, just the other week Rodney did this same stupid shit and almost got his _**BRAIN ZAPPED TO OBLIVION**_ and if it weren't for his personal shield he'd be **DEAD!** _**YOU TWO DO NOT HAVE PERSONAL SHIELDS!**_ **WHAT WERE YOU _THINKING!?_ "**

"The second we realized it was emitting radiation, we turned the device off!" Hewston defends.

 _"And any **FOUR-YEAR-OLD** can tell you that **RADIATION IS DANGEROUS!"**_ Freeman exclaims. "Knowing that doesn't make you smart! It makes you a little less stupid than some of the IDIOTS that I'VE had to fight! You wanna know how dangerous of a fuck up this could have been!? You _**COULD**_ have started a fucking _**MATTER-ANTIMATTER REACTION THAT WIPED THE CITY OFF OF THE FACE OF THIS PLANET!"**_

"Gordon, be nice," you chide, glancing back to your work.

"Okay, fine, I will be if they're going to live," Freeman says. "More importantly, can I go BACK to bed?"

"Well," you say. "According to their body scan and blood tests, they'll be fine, yes. Although you two should check back with me in the next twenty-four hours and we'll run more tests to be certain."

"Okay, then," Freeman huffs. "Okay. You two got **LUCKY** this time. Because we are in a place where somebody flipping a goddamned light switch could domino out into the ZPMs rupturing and utterly shitting the bed of local space time with god knows how many exotic particles and parallel timeline dimensional layering shenanigans."  He massages at the bridge of his nose. "Just... take tomorrow off."

"We already have tomorrow off," Hewston says. "Tomorrow's the mandatory rest day."

"It is?" Freeman perks up. "Oh _hell_ Yes! _My date with the firing range is secured!_ I was waiting for this!"

And then your brain hitches a tick.

"Wait. Tomorrow's the Day off?" You ask.

"Yes," Watson nods. "It is."

"Oh Bloody-" you lament. "Rodney promised me he'd go fishing with me tomorrow! But he got invited to the wedding so he's not even here tonight or tomorrow! We both plain forgot about it!"

* * *

 

Meanwhile, in his hotel room in Hauntswitch, Rodney Mckay sneezes abruptly.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 29TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 04/08/0006.**

"Good morning, Doctor Keller!" You greet, entering the infirmary.

"Good morning, Doctor-" she yawns. "Beckett. Sorry. I'm not used to being up early like this. What brings you in?"

"Just checking in to see if Watson on Hewston checked in this morning to report any change in symptoms," you explain.

"Doctors Watson and Hewston?" Keller pauses. "Nope, I can't remember seeing them anywhere this morning yet."

"Well, if they do come in, please give them a once over with the Shaper Crystal just to be on the safe side," you advise. "You can never be too safe with radiation poisoning. I didn't think about it last night and I really should have; too tired, I suppose."

She nods. "Understood, sir."

* * *

 

After visiting and checking with Teyla, you check Major Lorne's room.

Unfortunately, the poor lad's in bed sick with a stuffy nose and moderate fever.

You'd advise him to go to the infirmary, but he waves it off.

"It's just a little cold and I've had worse.  I'll be fine, but... Sorry, Doc. I'll make it up to you next time. Promise."

* * *

 

"Son of a bitch! Stop that!" Tagora Gorjek exclaims, annoyed.

"Stop what? Winning?" Radek Zelenka asks of his opponent as you approach them at the weekly chess club meetup.

"You haven't won yet," Tagora mutters.

Zelenka notices you approaching, and stands up. "Carson! You've come to join the chess club?"

"Ah, not quite," you say.

"Here to watch?"

"Well, no, actually, Radek, I'm looking for someone to come fishing with me. Rodney had the wedding and bailed last minute, and Poor Major Lorne's in bed with a cold, so I'm out a partner."

"Surprise surprise," Zelenka shakes his head.

"Any interest?" You ask.

"I would, but we're playing trades today," Zelenka explains. "Heh, I've already wona  desk fan, both Doctor Mallozi's Earth Anime AND Gahlek's Alternian Anime DVD collections, AND I've gotten a coupon for a free Sweedish massage from Doctor Ambrose! Perhaps we could go fishing next week?"

"Alright," you nod. "Well, best of luck to you."

"Oh, I don't need luck," Zelenka smiles, turns to his board again and resoundingly- " _CHECKMATE!_ "

 ** _"OH SON OF A BITCH!"_** Tagora cries out in **_FRUSTRATION_**. Bold Italic Capitalization necessary.

* * *

 

You go to ask Doctor Biro, but her enthusiastic nature is  not exactly the kind of energy you want to bring with you on a fishing trip.

You return to the infirmary.

"Hello, Doctor Keller, Doctor Cole. Slow day?" You ask, re-entering the room.

"Carson!" Cole sits up. "What are you doing here? Isn't it your day off?"

"Ah, well, I came in to check if anyone wanted to come join me on a fishing trip. I've struck out of luck on everyone I could go with today," you admit.

"Yeah, it's been a slow day," Keller says. "But I'm used to the slow days. Slow nights, really, but it's not too big of a change, really."

"I've got a migraine, actually," Cole says. "I'd go fishing if not for that. It's... pretty bad actually. I took some..some stuff, but I can't take any more being on call and everything."

"Tell you what," you say, "You can take the rest of the day off now, Cole. If I can't find anyone else after I visit the Cafeteria, which I suspect I won't, I'll just come in and catch up on paperwork and cover your shift for you. In the mean time, as long as the day's remaining quiet, I think Keller can cover in the meantime for the both of us?"

Doctor Keller nods enthusiastically. "You've got it, Doctor Beckett!"

Cole smiles. "Thank you."

And thus, she leaves for bed, and you  go to the cafeteria, and ask Doctor Freeman.

He turns you down and you're about to head back to the infirmary when suddenly, there's an explosion.

And then you're on the job.

* * *

 

"What happened here?" you ask of Keller as you arrive on the scene, and she's busy loading up Teyla onto a cart, a large bandage on her back.

"Some sort of explosion, atleast one dead, a few bumps and bruises from the shock wave knocking people in the hallway on their feet," Keller explains. "Teyla took a direct piece of shrapnel to her back. Most of it broke loose when she rolled over before we got here, but I think there's still debris in the wound."

"Shit," you check on her, seeing that Teyla's barely awake. "Teyla, I'm here. You've been in an explosion and a piece of metal's lodged in your back. We're taking you to the infirmary to take it out and patch you up, easy peasy. I could do this one in my sleep."

She passes out again.

* * *

 

You are Radek Zelenka, and you are busy in a winning streak of chess when Doctor Beckett appears to ask you if you want to go fishing.

Well.

Unfortunately, you cannot.

And then there was an explosion.

You arrive on the scene just about as the same time as Tyzias and Daraya, just shortly after Freeman goes running for his lab, and Beckett and the medical team wheel out a bleeding Teyla. Daraya goes to escort them to the infirmary, and you get a chance to go into the Gym.

The reason for that delay? Transporters were down. LOTS of Stairs to cover. Such annoyances.

"[What happened here?]" Tyzias asks of Gina Kae, one of the only survivors to get away with nothing worse than a few bruises on her back.

"[We were just chatting, and then... I don't know, Teyla was tackling me and then I saw Hewston just...]" She shakes her head. "[She exploded.]"

"[That's impossible,]" Tyzias says.

You take out your scanning equipment and check the wall in question...

"[Was she sitting here?]" You ask.

Gina nods.

"[There's no traces of explosive residue, or anything of the like. There's just scorched genetic material splashed across the wall.]" You frown. "[No damage to the walls, thank god. Otherwise the damage might have been spread to the people in the hall outside. But why are the transporters down?]"

Shockwave? No, other people would have been hurt.

Containment protocol? No, that shouldn't be the case, should it?

EMP? But Ancient tech is heavily shielded, and even then one of such magnitude would have wiped everything in the city, equipment wise that-

_"[Zelenka, Whoever's in Admin. This is Freeman. Come to my office right now. This is IMPORTANT AS FUCK.]"_

* * *

 

You arrive in Doctor Freeman's office with the total members of AR-2 save for Daraya, and he begins explaining.

"[Alright, I'm digesting bits of this as we go, so, uh, _mind the gaps_ ,]" Freeman starts. "[Last night, Doctor Hewston and her partner Doctor Watson were on an Ancient Lab Shutdown mission. They Turned ON a device instead of turning it off, and were briefly exposed to a VERY odd type of radiation. They were able to turn it off, and Beckett examined them last night, giving them a clean bill of health and I decided we'd put off figuring out whatever it was until they developed symptoms, which was _**A Mistake.**_ ]"

"[What does it do?]" Keiko asks.

"[The science is PRETTY spectacularly complicated, but it looks like a predecessor to the Replicator Nanomachine technology,]" you explain. "[Not Radiation, but little robots disguised as Radiation. A Weapon against the Wraith, but abandoned fairly early on because it didn't discriminate.]"

"[So, before they added in their little work around to make sure their tech didn't target themselves,]" Tyzias guesses.

"[Or they did and it didn't work,]" you guess. "[Affecting them anyways... But... affecting them how?]"

Freeman gets this disgusted look on his face. "[Long Story Short it creates Explosive Tumors.]"

"[It does what now?]" You ask. But, oh, that's probably what he meant by it didn't discriminate. Explosions can't be programmed to not harm people.

"[Are you kidding me?]" Keiko asks.

"[That's... insane,]" Mallek says.

"[Not as insane as you think,]" Freeman brings up two diagrams. Two human bodies, except one is clearly from the Ancient Database and the other is an X-ray scan from Earth. "[We've seen this tech before, or, well, SGC Earth has. The device Hewston and Watson encountered emits mechanical particles that are engineered to enter a human body and collect trace elements as they gather in a certain place behind the lungs. This forms an explosive compound, which, once it reaches critical mass, explodes. Nirrti designed a _similar_ bomb to this, and Apophis used it against her and Earth once already.]" He points at the X-Ray. "[That one was a Naquadah bomb that formed around the heart designed to go off in proximity to a Stargate. _This?_ On the other hand? This just seems to be explode at _random._ Atleast, once it hits critical mass, it's a random ticking time bomb. No way to ensure a controlled detonation at all.]"

"[So, Doctor Watson-]" Keiko starts.

"[Has almost definitely been exposed,]" Freeman says. "[And we need to find him before he ignites, which could be any minute now.]"

You swear loudly. Today just went from bad to worse.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Gordon Freeman has suffered from enough bad science that he's surprisingly one of the guys pushing for Safety on Atlantis these days. It's kiiind of his pet peeve/berserk button given, well... *Black Mesa*, Resonance Cascades, Aperture Science, The Borealis, The Combine.... Uh... Basically anything that happened in the Half Life games?
> 
> But seriously, though, don't piss Dr. Freeman off. 
> 
> Later: Tagora also lost *his* anime collection in the process of trying to win Galekh's. 
> 
> Radek's just that good at chess.


	67. SG1: 10X20: Unending - ACT 4.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Series Finale. Ten seasons of Stargate SG-1 wraps up with a Wedding finale for Jack and Sam. Meanwhile, something unknown lurks in the shadows, waiting to strike.  
> \---  
> Welcome to the Title Drop, leave your alternate selves at the door.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> MILD EPILOGUE CROSSOVER AND MUSIC SEQUENCE THIS CHAPTER.  
> Reminder that you do NOT have to try synching music to the events directly, as it's a pretty fast song in places.

Your name is Argo Lalonde, and up until several Minutes (????) ago, you were attending a wedding.

Time has stopped having any meaning at all.

You can't sense it at all.

And what's worse, you're getting bleeding edge memories of your younger, alternate self from her perspective at the wedding just today. Stranger still, you're having some edge case memories of Nepeta Leijon as well trying to slot in around the edges.

You feel sick to your stomach three times over, just being in this place.

You're all still running, running from something impossible.

And then your cloaked savior suddenly splits into three, and two of them form a line, pushing their swords into the ground, and creating a massive crack between them.

"Follow me!" The third says, and leaps in without hesitation.

You hear the cracking of trees being forced apart behind you, and you don't hesitate.

Nobody does.

You leap into the fissure, and you are in a sea of stars.

Then, a single star comes rapidly accelerating up towards you- a piece of Jolinar's memories that you shouldn't have are identifying it as VORASH'S SUN- and then you all sink beneath its surface.

It feels like hot air in a sauna blowing pleasantly against your skin.

You all sink further, further, further, into the sun's core...

And then gently, impossibly so, you all land in the melted, fire laden ruins of a city.

"Oh fuck," Davis swears. "I know this place. It's-"

"It's fucking Houston, yeah," the cloaked figure pulls his hood back, and reveals the face of Dirk Strider, except... somehow paradoxically younger and older than he was when he died.

"...Hal?" Missy steps forwards. "Is that you?"

"Hal, Dirk, same difference, here," your Cloaked Savior says, orange eyes flickering with red flames and purple lightning for a moment. "What I wanna know is how the fuck you all wound up here."

"We were going to stop some Ba'al clones from crashing a wedding," Joey says. "Then something happened and we were all here."

"Fucking hell, whatever that thing did to the Ba'als is what it did to Siler, isn't it?" Davis asks.

"That thing is called The End," Hal-Dirk says. "It's born from dead stars and forgotten souls, and dying dreams." He shakes his head, and starts leading you through the ruined expanse of a city. "The people who live here call it The End because if it touches you, you End. It takes your soul through your eyes, and jabs it into itself, making it stronger."

"Speaking of here," you start. "Where is 'Here' exactly? Where are we?"

Hal-Dirk laughs, a hollow, yet amused laugh. "This place is called the Unending. It exists between the continuity of events and of ideas and of the written word. It's less a place and more... the Ultimate Bullshit Content Aggregator."

Rose snaps her fingers. "We're in what could be considered the mindscape of a Narrator."

"Narrators?" Karkat scoffs.. "Yeah, right. Like hell we're traipsing back into whatever bullshit Damara did."

"Don't knock it til you've tried it, Vantas," Hal-Dirk says, navigating you around a ruined building that looks like it got pummeled by meteors. "But yeah, you could say this place exists because of Damara. You could also say it existed before her, and after her. Time has no meaning here."

And then as if to prove his point- he jabs the tip of his sword into the dirt, and flings loose something round, white, and glimmering with seven gemstones.

Joey catches it without a second glance with her left hand, and the thing snaps snugly into place around her wrist as if it never left.

"...Holy shit," she stares at The Bracelet. "I was just wondering if this place was made up of memories or not, and I thought about this and-"

"It's not memories," Hal-Dirk says. "Well, not exactly. Memories influence this place and everyone who lives in it. You're probably all starting to notice it. The extra tickle of information at the back of your mind. Memories you shouldn't have. People and events you shouldn't know."

"Like how I'm now paradoxically remembering a conversation with John," Rose starts, "One version where I was complaining of Memories I shouldn't have, and one where I was complaining of soggy cereal."

"Oh shit, I'm remembering that too, now," John says.

"Yeah, this place fucks with your mind," Hal-Dirk says. "Ultimate Bullshit Content Aggregator."

"So how do we get out?" Jade asks.

"Out? You don't get out," Hal-Dirk says. "There is no 'out.' I've been looking for it for years now."

"Then how did Siler's body get teleported out of his car, probably to here, and then dropped out in front of us earlier?" Davis asks.

"...What?" Hal-Dirk pauses in his walk, and glances back at you all. "...Fuck it, I'm not awake enough to deal with this shit right now. Ask Polendina when we find her."

"Polendina?" Joey asks. "Like Penny? Or-?"

That's when a green glowing Replicator bursts out of the sand in front of you all, and chitters for attention.

"...Like the Replicator," Hal-Dirk says, and kneels down to pet the machine. "Take us to her, Li'l Scout."

* * *

 

You are now Joey Claire, and you peer at the oddly dressed version of a grown up Penny Polendina that you've seen thanks to time travel shenanigans.

"Well," she stares at you all. "Circumstances certainly have given us quite the interesting conversation today. But before we begin, we must wait on two more."

"Two more what?" Missy asks. "People? Who else got dragged into this?"

Polendina says nothing, instead counting down... "Three, Two... One..."

There's a flicker-flash of BLUE LIGHT, and a _**ZAAAAP** _sound, and then... There's another John, along side an older looking Terezi.

"...What?" Other John blinks. "This can't be right. I was supposed to be bringing us back to Earth C."

"You fucked it up, Egbert," other Terezi gripes.

"Introductions are in order," Polendina stands, and motions. "Colonel John Sheppard, meet John Egbert, Heir of Breath. Ordinarily, you should have been merged into eachother in this world given your shared souls... and yet..." She stares for a moment, then makes a small gasp of understanding. "Ah, I see now. Your Dimensional Origins are different enough that you may co-exist here. You merely only share a tangential soul connection in concept and name, but not a strong enough of one for the Unending to merge you."

"...Well, damn," your John- Sheppard, you'll stick with for now. "This is new."

"You're telling me," the other John- Egbert- squints. "...Why the hell are Davepeta and Jasprose not Sprites?"

He says the **_[Words]_** , and you all gain understanding.

**_[SPRITE: A SBURB Game Construct Guide that can raise the dead.]_ **

"...First of all," Davis starts, "What the fuck is SBURB?"

Terezi laughs a gut bursting laugh. "Oh My Fucking God! You really landed us in the boonies, Egdork! They're not even from OUR Timeline!"

"Just as you two are not from ours, which is a good thing, It seems." Polendina says. "Welcome to the Unending, where potentials that have no end gather to congregate."

"Hey! Wait, I know You!" Mordred suddenly points at Egbert. "You're the guy who almost got eaten by English!"

"Wait," Egbert stares at her. "YOU! You're the one I saw fighting that weird green-skinned Jade and that Aradia look alike just after something hit English and knocked me loose!"

"And now we come to the reason you all have been gathered here today," Polendina smiles, clapping her hands. "There is some Clean Up that is required from an unstable timeloop created by that intervention. A fragment of that Calliope's soul survived Damara and Mordred incinerating her borrowed corpse via Super Nova. And she is clinging to life, drawing power through the soul of the Jade Harley whose body she had stolen, and whose combined soul now congregates somewhere within the Body of The End."

Everyone is silent for a moment, then, you speak:

"I think I speak for everyone when I say, _What the Flying Fuck are we supposed to do about That?_ "

"I don't know who that troll is, but I like her spunk," Terezi quips.

"Shoosh, you," Egbert counters.

"So..." Jade starts, "you're saying that there's an alternate universe version of me stuck inside of that thing somewhere?"

"That is exactly the case," Polendina nods. "As for how you are going to deal with it... That is where the very nature of this world comes into being. The Unending is the Ultimate Congregation of Memories. The very core concept of characters, ideals, concepts, and thought. Anything that can exist anywhere, via a book, or a mystical artifact, or though imagination itself, can be made manifestly real here. This place is a conceptual realm, in some worlds... I suppose it could be called a _**[Reality Marble]**_..."

And then you all have an image of an Archer in red and black, with tanned skin and white hair, whose blood is swords and his bones are swords, and contained within his very soul... a Marble, a clockwork landscape full of nothing but swords, swords, and more Swords.

The very concept of a world containing the infinite reflections of a person's soul... And then... the image twists, and you can perceive the very IDEA of the UNENDING as a bubble in space.

Except instead of containing endless swords, it contains everything and anything that could be imagined.

With a flash of magic, Polendina suddenly holds a perfect replica of Excaliber, "A very, _Very, **VERY**_ unlimited and unrestricted Reality Marble. But a Reality Marble never the less."

You look at your wrist, at the Bracelet shattered and destroyed... And you feel no pain lingering in your legs.

"So what's stopped people like us from destroying the End before?" you ask. "What makes us so well equipped to stop it now? Why hasn't anyone else done it?"

"You think too linearly," Polendina says. "You are the first, the last, and every team that will ever defeat it ever. You have already done it, and you have yet to do it. There are no others better suited for this task."

"It's a conceptual fight," Rose finally says. "It's not a fight about power we have in the real world. It's about what we can imagine ourselves to be able to do in this imaginary space."

"So we beat this thing and we can go home, right?" Sheppard asks.

"Of course," Polendina smiles. "That is how these things always go, is it not?"

* * *

 

**> [[S] CLOCKSTOPPER](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CO5IN60Nt9E)**

A small crack in space appeared above the Fog ridden Forest Glade, and a team of heroes slipped through it, falling gently towards the ground.

With a flash of golden particles, Sheppard summoned the first Phantasam- a replica of the City of Atlantis- around them, giving them ground to stand on as the City began to slow their descent.

[0:08]

The End's fractal shaped body twisted so that its head could look up at the Shielded Lantean City descending downwards.

Karkat went next, summoning an incredible fleet of 304 Class Battle Cruisers with micro bursts of Hyper Space windows that came from nowhere. Beltus, Daedalus, Odyssey, and Korolev prime among the ones known to the audience. More appeared after- Apolo, Phoenix, Hammond- and then countless more with names that flickered and blurred with no discernible identity.

[0:22]

With bursts of teal particles- a Rage of Alternian Pyro Eyed Dragons emerged from Atlantis' Jumper bay, along with a flash of emerald light- creating a swarm of Arai Beetles- each carrying in their claws a miniature Stargate that glowed with golden yellow eventhorizons, ready to unleash their solar wrath upon anything in their way.

Then- with a burst of those same emerald particles- the Ultrazord that had slain Lord English manifested as well- descending towards the forest on massive rocket feet, even as the glade's tiny little navigable area was suddenly expanded to massive, massive, massive sizes by Missy's power of spatial manipulation.

[0:37]

Alternia appeared in the heavens above it, complete with moons... and the fifteen foot tall End suddenly seemed much, much smaller in comparison to everything above it, moving to surround.

The End Did Not Like it.

It narrowed its tooth-made eyebrows and prepared for one hell of a fight.

And then everything began to glow as their primary weapons ignited. Drones launched from Atlantis- the Dragon's eyes glowed- every 304's primary Hyperbeam array charged up- the Microgates bubbled with potential, and the Arai Beetles' eyes glowed with red and blue energy.

And then they opened fire.

[0:54]

Every type of energy attack imaginable rained down from above and in all directions- smashing down into the expanded glade like nothing anybody had ever seen.

[0:58]

Alternia Exploded with a flash of green- Jade's phantasm now raining down a stream of molten core and burning rocks upon the End with everything it was worth.

The End Roared in rage as multiple layers of its existence were cooked, broiled, and melded down into the laywers beneath, locking its limbs into place and preventing it from moving at all.

[1:12]

And then three figures darted through the chaos- Davis, Hal, and Argo.

Each carried a sword, and with a nod- they activated their powers: Hal split into multiple clones with a burst of speed and Heart Lightning, and Dave and Argo linked hands, before Dave time split- creating multiple clones of both of them all over the place.

Then, they leaped at the End, and began slicing, dicing, and smashing at the beast with everything they had.

With every strike Argo made, and was followed up by Davis or Hal or one of the other's attacks, the Creature's body suddenly reverted backwards in time- shedding eyes and teeth, and drastically reducing its available mass and fractally spreading limbs.

[1:26]

A bony hand of teeth and eyes broke loose- flashing away with a blue ZAP- and back in the real World, Siler's eyes shot open as he gasped for breath as if waking up from a horrid nightmare.

[1:30]

Egbert unleashed a hail of Hammers during a cool down of the firing from everything else- hammers he had made, hammers he had been given, hammers from mythology, and hammers he dreamed up just in that moment- all of them rained down in massive scale, smashing into The End mere seconds after various Argo's left sword wounds that would revert the souls taken back to the people they belonged to.

[1:40]

Claire flew up out of Atlantis, summoning giant versions of her Bracelet's crystals behind her in the formation of a Stargate's primary seven chevrons.

With a roar and a snarl, she snapped her fingers at the monster- and each chevron of the make believe Supergate let loose a powerful burst of energy that slammed into The End- carefully avoiding allies- and began tearing into the beast even further with those respective crystal abilities.

[1:50]

Hal swarmed his Splinters, around The End's legs, knocking out those supporting structures, and causing the beast to be felled by a solid two feet, reducing it down to the unlucky number of Thirteen Feet Tall.

This, forced it to reset its entire shape- and it did so with a shockwave inducing roar- forcing everyone to take several steps back to relative safety.

[1:58]

The End now was smaller, and had taken on the shape of a glittering, winged Werewolf with teeth instead of fur and feathers.

Its hollow eyes had lost the void of the dying stars, and now contained a gleaming void that made Mordred snarl, "YOU!"

The Corpse Stealer's fragmented soul made its presence known.

[2:06]

Mordred began to stroll forwards, Excaliber igniting in hand with exotic energies that were more at home in Clarent than Merlin's handmade sword, and such was the Knight's determination that armor of gold and red surrounded him, covering even his face from sight with the horned visage of a noble demon seeking revenge.

The End snarled, readying sharpened claws made from impossibly extended to a point teeth.

Mordred had nothing else to say but "It's time to finish this."

And then they leaped towards eachother into combat. Sword clashing against teeth-claws, and those very same claws not even being able to get a hit in on Mordred's armor.

[2:21]

Meanwhile, Jade ascended into the air from Atlantis' tower, with a full swirling storm of accelerated marbles orbiting her.

She began to take aim while Mordred got the beast into a more opportune position of having its back turned towards Atlatnis.

Jade squared up her line of sight- and suddenly gasped as she had a spot of realization as a new memory surfaced.

"Oh! So that's how she teleports!" And then with a smirk, she narrowed her eyes, and then clapped her hands infront of her face-

The storm of marbles flicker-zapped away from her with a burst of green light.

-And then she flung them out towards The End.

[2:34]

Suddenly, marbles began teleporting around the field, suddenly, each flung out of their orbits, and rocketing along their newfound paths straight home into every single joint and weak point of armor the beast had covered itself in.

With a massive rapid fire nuclear shotgun blast from all directions- the Beast was suddenly engulfed in emerald flames even as Mordred hopped backwards a few hundred feet in just two steps, twisting the handle of Excaliber, and switching all of those exotic energies of the Twelve Aspects into a singular whole of golden light.

[2:52]

He raised the sword high above his head, and began to charge this devastating Noble Phantasm. "EX..."

The other long range laser attacks charged up as well- the Ultrazord, the Arai Beetles and Bracelet Gems, the 304 Fleet, the Dragons' eyes, Atlantis' drones- and all prepared for the final strike to be launched all at once to finish off The End once and for all. The multitude of Striders prepared their swords in case this next attack failed.

[3:06]

The green flames around the End began to sputter out, flickering away to reveal what little was remaining of that once fractal, fifteen foot tall beast, now nothing more than a small, pitiful shell of teeth and eyes no taller than a sixteen year old teenager.

Its eyes, barely seen through the now dispersing flames, were now hetero-chromatic, one solid black and voidless, the other white and green, and brimming with tears of confusion and pain.

Egbert glanced to Karkat and Terezi, and they nodded, understand what they had to do next.

Mordred's eyes beneath the helmet glimmered with tears. "...CALIBER!!!!"

And he swung the sword- leveling a solid golden beam of total annihilation directly into The End's snarling face. Everything else fired at the same time, converging in a single massive explosion of brilliantly colored rainbow light.

The burning flames of purification ran through the End, obliterating teeth and eyes and reverting them back to where they came, smashing through everything and destroying these final layers of defenses. One. At. A. Time.

[3:30]

As everything finished firing, and the dust settled...

[3:33]

Terezi flew into the air on her Jetpack, carrying Egbert by her left hand, and Karkat by her right.

At the peak of her arc, she flung both of them straight down at the smoldering remains of the Still Struggling and Alive End.

Karkat summoned not a sickle into hand, but a full on staff with a massive blade of glimmering blood red energy at its end- a Reaper's Scythe, which he swung with all his might into the End- shattering all of its remaining bonds to those stolen teeth and Eyes, and leaving behind the ghostly image of a young Jade Harley being held hostage by a splintered, half dead Cherubic Snake- each eye black save for a glowing star in each- right eye candy red, left eye lime green.

[3:51]

And then Egbert came roaring down upon them with a glowing fist covered in swirling wind that he punched forwards as a series of wind blades that struck out carefully.

Each one smashed into the ghostly remains of the Corpse of a Snake, forcing it to disconnect from the young Harley's spectral form, and was then flung away far from the girl as Egbert landed next to the ghost and rapidly retreated away with Jade in arm.

The half-dead Corpse of a Snake roared- and tried to attach itself to that girl again the moment it was free of the wind attacks. It would not be denied its prize.

The Strider Trio dismissed their clones and launched forwards then from different angles at the same time Mordred leaped forwards as well, not allowing that to happen.

And so it was that with four swords slicing through and ensuring that every fragment of that malevolent spirit was purified- did that poor, poor cherub be taken back back into their most simplistic, basic form imaginable.

That of an Egg, swirled with a candy colored red and green shell, which **_flicker ZAP'd_** away mere moments after it had been reverted.

[4:27]

Egbert pulled out a GOLDEN RING from his shirt pocket, and pressed it quickly to the red line on the ghostly Jade's chest, where it merged into her body, and began attempting to make it whole.

With the fight over- the Noble Phantasms were dispersed, and Joey Flew down to land next to them.

The Shaper crystal on her bracelet informed her that it wouldn't work. The Ring didn't have enough soul matter to work with. This Jade would die again if she did not take action.

And thus, she decided that Reaper, Shaper, and Regeneration would prevent that.

[4:37]

And so Joey held out her hands, and activated the full restorative powers of that Bracelet,

But even as she worked- the Unending began to reject the Heroes within it back to whence they came.

Karkat and Davis vanished- _**ZAP**_ \- followed by Argo Lalonde and Jade Jackson- _**ZAP.**_

"Give them the Bracelet!" Rose Lalonde ordered before she was removed from the plane. _**ZAP.**_

And so Joey did, snapping the Bracelet off of her wrist even as Hal and Missy vanished with a _**ZAP**_.

"HERE!" Joey snaps it onto Egbert's wrist- "Use it to save her!"

And then she was removed with a _ **ZAP.**_

[4:50]

Egbert locked eyes with Sheppard- John to John. A nod passes between them.

Then Egbert, Terezi, and that young Jade vanished as well, _**ZAP**_ , and a moment later-

[4:55]

-Sheppard found himself back outside the parking lot of the Half-Harley Manor along with everyone else who had been taken there. Plus one Hal Strider now standing amongst them.

"What the fuck just happened?" Polypa exclaimed from the parking lot, making her way over to them. "You all just vanished for a moment! Like- ZAP! Gone And-! Wait what the fuck!? Hal!? When did- How did!?"

"It's a long story, Polypa," Joey answers, gazing down at her once more bare wrist. "A really, really long story."

"Shit, man..." Davis stared at the pile of Ba'als, hosts missing, and three Symbiotes lying dead on the ground across from them. "That's going to take a lot of explaining."

"Not much cleaning though," Karkat remarks, nodding to Polypa, who takes the hint and incinerates the Symbiotes with a snap of her fingers.

"I don't think anyone's going to believe us if we told them what just happened," Argo remarks, watching the flames burn down the Symbiotes into ash.

"Fat chance of that, yeah," Mordred glanced at Excaliber, blade cool to the touch and seemingly not having been used at all. "They barely believed us with what Damara did."

And then they hear sparking from inside the house- and Roxy Egbert yelling out an "Aw man!"

"I told you a stray Zillyum surge would cause it to fry!" Mckay's voice calls out in counter.

"Well..." John Sheppard remarks. "I think that's our cue to go back inside."

"...You think that other me got saved?" Jade asks as they all turn to head inside.

"Bwuh? What other you?" Polypa asks.

"...Yeah," John says. "I think they'll be just fine."

"Oh, for sure," Joey nods. "I gave them the Bracelet, after all. There's no way that's not going to do anything but help them."

"I'm so confused," Polypa groans.

"We'll tell you all about it later," Rose says. "For now, we've got a wedding to get back to."

Davis dragged Hal in through the front door of the Half-Harley Manor, and cried out- "Everyone! Look who finally showed up!"

"Sorry I'm late," Hal laughed, "My invite got to me fine, but I was the one who got lost in the mail."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm well aware this chapter probably isn't going to hit home in a pleasant way for some people. That said, much as Damara went through the motions of cleaning up stray Englishes, this is my way of ensuring some more stray problems are cleaned up as well. Hal was sent to this place during the rift events over Corinth, and you might be able to get some minor understanding of how and why Damara was reverted in age all of a sudden during the conclusion of those events as well. 
> 
> In the draft versions of this sequence, I was considering having the younger kid instances of John, Rose, Argo, and Jade being taken as well into the Unending, and, like the Ba'als, have their essences merged with their elder selves to be something more of an "Ultimate Self" archetype. These draft sequences also at one point involved taking *Everyone* at the party into the Unending, however, it was too much to juggle, in terms of character count. And there was also the question of "what happens when they leave?" that I didn't want to tangle with. Our universe's Terezi would have had to be present as well for *That one Visual* I had in mind to work out, but I couldn't rationalize her being invited to the wedding or crashing it to make it work. 
> 
> In the end, I settled for something a bit more straight forward and nowhere near as confusing, when it came to juggling a vast amount of characters. And then I went and ruined that by deciding to briefly bring in a short crossover with the bungled Epilogue timeline that was created by Damara's English slaying shenanigans being interrupted by AltCalliope barging onto the scene. 
> 
> This is all a matter of cleaning up loose ends, when it comes down to it. I can't just leave those threads hanging free and dangling, as unimportant as they may seem.
> 
> The Unending is a place of Concepts and Ideas. It borrows heavily from the Fate/Nasuverse concepts of "Reality Marbles" and "Noble Phantasms", as well as the idea of Homestuck's "Ultimate Self." In this place, if your mind can bring it forth, it is thus real. It serves as a much more unrestricted version of Skaia's "Wellspring of unlimited creativity"- which is actually limited to creating *Universes,* when you think about it. Words convey information, Visuals convey insight...
> 
> It is a place outside of time, and outside of space... It holds potentials of everything and anything, real or imagined. Physical and innate powers mean nothing in a space such as this, only the strength of the mind can triumph here, and for AltCalliope, her mind has been weakened severely by her time spent here, and the combined will of the spirits of Lord English and Caliborn that she consumed have begun attempting to re-assert their dominance within this place.
> 
> That Retcon'd Jade deserved better, and given I already went so far as to subtly nudge a fix by preventing Meat John from dying... I gave them a chance to give her a second chance as well. Did it work? Beyond one final chapter of loose thread cleanup that will touch upon their events after the end of this act, this is second to last time I intend to directly draw, character wise, from the Epilogues. 
> 
> I suppose that makes this series something of a slowly spreading web of positive energy, doesn't it? Slowly it branches out and touches other timelines and dimensions, giving them hope and potential for survival. Kind of like a Hope Virus or something. And to think it all started because AltCalliope stepped through a rift and caused an English to get shot in the face with a stray Hope Blast.
> 
> As we draw closer to the end of this Act, and thus draw closer to the end of the series as a whole, I find myself fearing the ending. A few more time loops. A few more loose threads to be tied down. A couple more seasons of Atlantis, and two movies. It strikes me as being real in a way I'd thought I'd never quite reach. 
> 
> And yet... here we are. 
> 
> We'll finish off Unending and Sunday this week, and then, we'll have one final week after that to finish up this act. I'll see you all then.


	68. SGA:03X17: Sunday - ACT 4.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunday is meant to be a day of rest... But sometimes, that doesn't go anywhere near according to plan.  
> \---  
> The Detonation.

As Doctor Beckett worked on Teyla's Surgery, Doctor Keller noticed Doctor James Watson entering the infirmary, looking pale and a bit low on breath.

"Doctor Watson?" Keller asks. "What's wrong?"

"I... I don't know," he answers. "I think I'm feeling complications from last night."

"Right," Keller nods, grabbing a bracelet from her pocket and putting it on. The Shaper Crystal gleams brightly from its silver frame. "Let's take a look at you then, shall we?"

As she reaches out for him, the crystal glowing- the City Intercom activates.

 _"Doctor Watson!"_ Freeman calls out. _"Doctor James Watson, Please Report your Whereabouts immediately."_

Keller pauses, and looks to Watson, who seems incredibly unable to reply in that moment.

She radios in turn: "This is Doctor Keller. I'm about to examine Doctor Watson right now. He's extremely pale and short of breath."

A moment later, Freeman replies- _"Keller, this is Freeman. The man you're about to examine has an explosive tumor somewhere in his lung. We think it's what killed Hewston and caused the explosion. If you have Shaper on hand, do what you can to stabilize it for the short term. We are sending an ordnance disposal crew to you right now."_

Keller pauses, looking at the man. "Oh god. You're not joking are you?"

 _"I wish I were,"_ Freeman says. _"You might have to operate to remove it."_

* * *

 

You are Carson Beckett, and as you're finishing up with the surgery on Teyla's back wound you hear Doctor Keller call out- "Carson!"

You glance to Marie, your assistant, and she takes over finishing the sewing up. You head over to Keller. 

"What's going on?"

"Protocol Seven," Keller tells you, a pale look on her face and shock in her eyes- her one hand, glowing with the Shaper Crystal's power, is resting on- 

Oh Dear Lord, Doctor Watson, who looks like he's having a heart attack.

"There's a Bomb Inside his Right Lung," Keller says. "I can See It. I'm doing everything I can to keep it from detonating but I'm NOT going to be able to hold it steady for long. We need to evacuate the Infirmary now."

You exhale. 

"OH Dear Lord," you then call out. "Alright! Everyone! Listen up! I need everyone to clear the floor right now. I'm enacting Protocol Seven for this entire level. MOVE IT PEOPLE!"

Everyone starts moving immediately, and Keller looks at you, horror in her eyes. "What about you?"

"What about You?" you ask. "We need to get this thing out of him before it explodes. And as long as you're keeping the trigger from going off I can get it out."

Keller nods. "Alright."

Marie heads over. "I'm staying too. You'll need a set of hands."

"What about Teyla?" You ask.

"She's stitched up and Daraya wheeled her out of here personally," Marie says.

"Okay," you nod. "Let's get to work then."

A quick change of gloves, and a lockdown protocol sealing the level save for a single entrance for the bomb disposal crew to arrive through, you gather your equipment and get to work.

"Carson?" Keiko inquires over the radio. "Are you seriously operating on the man with an explosive in his lung?"

"As long as Doctor Keller can use Shaper to keep it from detonating, it should be fine," you say. "I know we don't have much time. I'm beginning the first incision now."

"No pressure or anything," Keller says. "Nothing like holding a live grenade shut with your nervously shaking hands or anything."

And thus, you WORK.

You go as carefully as you can- ensuring that you're not causing undue harm...

And then there it is.

A mass of silver and blood clutching to the lung.

You remember Doctor Fraiser telling you about something similar once.

An explosive device with Naquadah and Potassium and other nastily reacting stuff all clustered together into an orb ready to explode at a moments notice.

You really wish she were here to walk you through this, but damn it all, she ended up going to that wedding too.

Why didn't you get an invitation? That just seems unreasonably unfair!

You begin the process of starting to separate it- and Keller gasps- "Careful, Carson! I almost lost my line of sight on it."

"You may have to be the one to remove it then," you say.

 _"Ordinance Crew is half way to the infirmary,"_ Keiko reports over the radio.

"I've never done something like this," Keller says.

Well, neither have you, but... damn it, she needs your guiding hand here.

"I'll walk you through it, step by step," you say. 

* * *

 

The Ordinance Disposal Crew arrives, two men in bomb suits wheeling in a large black case rated to contain explosions.

You exhale in relief as Keller removes the tumorous explosive, and places it in an organ transplant box.

"I've frozen it as best as I can," Keller says, carefully, but nervously handing the box off. "Oh god, please just get it out of here before it wears off."

"Got it," the men place the bomb tumor into their box, and immediately begin wheeling it out of the room, carrying it far and far away from your infirmary.

"Let's get Doctor Watson sewn up then," you order.

* * *

 

The Ordinance Crew arrived at a Teleporter chamber, and were attempting to activate the wall console...

Except it wasn't working for some inexplicable reason.

A moment later- there was a muffled bang from within their bomb containment device, and the entire thing rattled on its wheels....

But thankfully...

Nobody was harmed in the second explosion.

* * *

 

"Oh thank god," your name is Gordon Freeman, and you hang your head in relief upon hearing the news.

"Doctor Freeman?" Keiko began, "Please ensure that the device that caused this gets disassembled."

"With pleasure," you agree.

And thus, you got a team together, and a few hours later... the job was done.

It would be an academic point of study, as the machine responsible was now dismantled, but you did find out the reason the Transporters failed.

The explosive tumors, in the minutes before and after detonation, released a minor subspace energy wave into the air that tripped the Transporters' safety protocols, and locked them down to their existing locations to prevent any accidents while the energy wave was present.  
  
Interestingly, the second explosion had been near enough to the Linking Book Room to cause some minor static to flare on the linking panels during that same period of time.

Probably some weird subspace interaction, but what do you care? It's not like it's going to happen again anytime soon. You took the machine apart and scattered the parts across the city to different labs.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A shorter act here, but what's done is done. And HEY! Nobody died in the second blast! HOW ABOUT THAT! 
> 
> What a relief, am I right?


	69. SG1: 10X20: Unending - ACT 5.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Series Finale. Ten seasons of Stargate SG-1 wraps up with a Wedding finale for Jack and Sam. Meanwhile, something unknown lurks in the shadows, waiting to strike.  
> \---  
> Conclusion. The party wraps up, and everyone moves on with their lives.

**THE KITCHEN.**

  
"Here," Mordred hands Artoria Excaliber back. "It came in handy, sorta."

"Sort of?" Artoria asks, confused.

"Long story, temporarily stolen away to a pocket dimension universe thing. Used it there, not here."

"Oh... Okay."  Artoria has no other response for it, and thusly Captchalogues her sword once more with only a few seconds of pause to try to remember how to do it right.

* * *

**THE GARAGE.**

"Geeze, Siler, I tell you, one stray temporal event, and you're out for the entire wedding!" Karkat Vantas shook his head.

"Sorry, Sir. I just don't know what happened," Siler stares at his wrecked car. "How am I going to pay for getting this fixed?"

"Don't worry about it," Karkat places his hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'll make sure you get reimbursed for a new one."

"Thanks, Sir."

"Cmon, Siler, we're off duty. How many times do I gotta tell you?"

"Thanks, Vantas."

"That's better!"

A few minutes later, Siler's affect over the weather did as promised and burst the storm that was brewing over head, and everyone was free to head back outside if they wanted to.

* * *

 

**THE OLD TROPHY ROOM.**

As everyone continued to celebrate the wedding, and Hal Strider's miraculous return from being kidnapped, possessed, and then lost in the voids of space-time was equally celebrated by those closest to him out in the yard...

Joey, Mierfa, and Polypa sat and watched the youngest kids as they napped on a small couch that had been set up in the old Trophy room in a comfortable silence.

The three of them sat on the couch on opposite side of the room from the one the young ones were napping on. Mierfa leaned left, resting her head on Joey's right shoulder. Polpya lay on her back from Joey's left, legs dangling off the arm of the sofa, and head resting in Joey's lap.

Silently, Mierfa had her right hand stroking through Polypa's hair, and Joey had her left hand tracing along the flame tattoos standing out in stark contrast along Polypa's left arm.

This was the sight Callie and Dammek found them in when they came to check up on them, and just as silently decided to leave things be...

Dammek left almost immediately. Callie paused to take out her camera phone and quietly snapped a quick photo of the quiet scene before she left.

Moments like these were hard to find during days like today.

* * *

 

**THE YARD.**

"Okay, like this now," Jade Jackson clapped her hands together. "Do you feel that surge of energy?"

Jade Harley peered up at her older, alternate self, and then had a small gasp of realization.

She clapped her own hands, and her eyes lit up with awe. "I feel it! It's like what happens when I sneeze except-!"

"Except a lot more controlled, right?" Jade Jackson nods. "Okay, now then, think about where you want to go, let's say...." She glances across the yard, up at the tree house in the tree that Jude once spent so many childhood days in. "Up in Jude's tree house. And..." She thrusts her hands out towards it.

_Flicker- **ZAP!**_

Jade Harley gasps as her older self vanished, then she closes her eyes, and does the same motion.

Clap. Thrust!

_Flicker- **ZAP!**_

And then she finds herself sitting in her older, alternate self's lap with a cry of success.

"I DID IT!"

"You did it!"

The two alternate selves celebrated by teleporting back down to the yard, sneaking into the kitchen, and swiping a couple of bowls of ice cream.

Though the younger of the two would refuse to say it for years to come, it was that shared moment of victory ice cream more than the successful teleport that she would cherish as the fondest memory of the day.

* * *

 

**THE WATER TABLE.**

"So, these excess memories are going to fade away, right?" John Sheppard asks of his sister.

"Most likely," Rose Lalonde nods. "I'm already feeling some of those extraneous bursts of inspiration and extraneous knowledge fading away. I think it's just a quirky side-effect of what-ever the hell that place was." She holds out her hand, and focuses intently... But, nothing happens. "I'm pretty sure that if we had spent longer, or I'd taken an artifact out of that place, I might have been able to summon up another of my Minigates. But... Oh well."

"Jade figured out teleporting and taught it to her otherself," John remarks. "I think that, and rescuing Hal, is enough that we should have taken out of there."

"Indeed," Rose nods. "Though, there's no telling what kind of exotic ideas tagged along with that Bracelet Joey gave the other you. For all we know, it stored a memory of every attack we ever used there. Who knows, we may actually start gaining those back with enough time."

"Geeze, that's a terrifying thought," John shudders. "I just hope that the other me knows not to unleash the full power of any of that shit on someone who doesn't deserve it." He glances over across the yard to where Argo and Nepp and Nepeta are hanging out with Jude and Cassie and Penny. "...Speaking of terrifying thoughts, here's one for you."

"Hm, what's that?" Rose asks.

"What if that wasn't just a pocket dimension in some random corner of space," John asks. "What if it was a pocket dimension stored inside Polendina's crystal?"

"The one that saved Cassandra's life on Abydos?" Rose asks, staring over at them as well. "...That is a terrifying thought. We might well have been exploded if we stayed there any longer. Though..." She glances back at her brother. "What makes you suspect we were in there?"

"...Why else would a copy of Replicator Sixth Polendian be inside of it?" John asks in turn. "More importantly, with all that conceptual nonsense going on... how hard would it be for Polendina to hitch a ride and transfer her soul into a developing baby that might not've had a chance to get a soul bound to it yet?"

"We've wondered such things before," Rose muses. "Such as how Cassandra received a vision of Polendina's death just before all of that happened. It's possible, and given how crazy our lives are... Honestly, I wouldn't put anything out of the question at this point. Our lives are just too weird."

"Yeah," John frowns. "That said, it WOULD be nice to just be able to summon a whole fucking Atlantis out of nowhere, wouldn't it?"

"It would certainly be quite the impressive act," Rose nodded. "I'd imagine that were they able, the Asuran Replicators would wet themselves in terror."

"Definitely not something to try anywhere but in high orbit over a planet, though," John says.

"Oh, definitely!"

"And let's hope we NEVER need to pull out Jade nuking Alternia and turning it into a projectile shotgun again, either. Once was weird enough, but TWICE??"

"Oh my God, could you imagine the outrage?" Rose laughs, and John laughs as well.

Then, growing somber... John asks. "So... it wasn't just me right. That other John seemed like he was really sad about something?"

Rose considers it. "Yeah... He was. I've seen that look in your eyes before. Before we changed everything. Before we undid that future. You weren't happy with how things were going."

"No," John grunts. "I really wasn't. None of us were."

"You had so much to latch onto once we fixed it, though," Rose says. "You didn't wallow, kept moving forwards."

"We all did."

They remain silent for a moment.

"I think I'm happy with my life now," John says. "I had my doubts, but... I think I'm happy where I wound up."

"Really?" Rose asks. "What brought this on?"

"The first thing I thought of was Atlantis," John says. "And how warm it made my chest feel to think about my friends, and family, and... everything we were doing there."

Rose considers that. "Home is where the heart is, after all."

"I just hope that other me can find his," John says. "Or, if he cant... at least find a way to make his home."

"'Destruction is coming. Find a Way,'" Rose quotes, "'Make a Home.'"

"Who the heck said that?" John asks.

"Oh, it's just from an alternate me's memory of Yeesha, where things went bad with Joey's recovery of the Tablet," Rose shakes her head, then smiles. "I think I'm happy where I am in life too, now."

* * *

 

**THE UPPER HALLWAY.**

John and Rose Egbert sat by the window at the top of the staircase, looking down into the yard, or, rather, down specifically at the water table where their other selves were chatting.

Rose pulled a flower from her hair and began to work it into John's.

"Rose, can I ask you a question?"

"Mmh? Sure."

"Why do people keep changing?"

"Changing?" Rose pauses, plucking another flower stem from her hair and placing it between her teeth as she finishes weaving the first one onto place.

"Like... You know." John pauses. "Other us-es having different names. Mom getting cloned and then Aunt Roxy becoming Uncle Roxy, and... And now Aunt Sam's not going to be Aunt Carter anymore but Aunt O'neill! Uncle Dirk *died* and then Hal goes missing and suddenly he's back but now he's closer to *Dirk's age*! Mordred looks like a girl, but he's a guy! Grandma Jane suddenly became Aunt Jane. And I just-!"

As John stops, Rose takes out the next flower from her teeth and starts putting it into John's hair on the opposite side of his head.

"And you what?" Rose asks.

"...I know that those other uses aren't... our future, yknow?" John fidgets with the bottom edge hem of his shirt. "Like, I get it. They're not... us anymore? But... You got your own Kanaya. Other Rose has her Kanaya."

"And what's that supposed to mean?" Rose asks, raising an eyebrow.

"Nepp's looked and me and Jade sometimes, like she's wondering something," John says. "And it gets me wondering. Does she want us to be like our other selves? Does Jade want that? Do _*I*_ Want that?"

"I think we're all a bit young to be thinking about stuff like that," Rose says, finishing up with the second flower faster than the first, and goes to remove a third from her hair.

"I can't help it, Rose," John huffs. "They're other versions of US! We have so many similar powers it's- I- I can't help it."

"I think the differences in our powers and our names is enough distinction to say that we're not the same people," Rose says, working the third flower in next to the first. "That we have different experiences, and different futures..." Rose frowns. "But other Rose and her ages Kanaya are from vastly different circumstances compared to me and Our ages Kanaya." She stresses the Our, because Kanaya isn't just some possession to tag onto a singular person. "Are you worried about fate or destiny or whatever repeating itself?"

"Maybe," John answers. "I guess I am. A little. A part of me just feels weird thinking that me and Jade and Nepp are just... destined to follow the same things the other us-es did, because... they had a way more horrible life than we've had. They don't tell us what it was, but you can just tell."

Rose hums in agreement, taking out a fourth flower, and beginning to work it into John's hair behind the second. And she has seen it. Sometimes there was a far away look in her elder self's eyes whenever she looked at their mother. It took a long time for Rose to piece together what it was, but it was Mourning. Lamenting a loss that, while mitigated by Time Travel, was still present deep down.

"Yeah, I've noticed," she nods. "They tried to hide it but atleast once from each of them today, I saw them get a little upset over the idea of this wedding. It probably happened before but with a lot less people."

"It's like a magic trick," John mumbles. "Compare and Contrast. Being here on Earth makes them uncomfortable. Them being here makes us uncomfortable. We're the same people but different enough... They didn't even come back from Pegasus when Atlantis got shut down. It's like they're avoiding us, or anything that reminds them about that."

Rose finishes the fourth, and retrieves a fifth flower. "Maybe they are. I can't say it doesn't have its appeal to never look back and keep moving forwards."

Looking back gives uneasy vibes. Like the time she nearly stabbed a clown's eyes out because it made her Friends/Family/Precious Ones cry when she was doing things the others her age could barely do.

"Rose... I think they had to grow up too fast," John says. Then. He asks a debilitating question. "...Do you think we're growing up too fast too?"

Rose pauses in her work. "I guess so."

She thinks that, with everything that's ever happened... maybe they have grown up too fast.

"Do you ever just..." Rose starts as she resumes her work. Has to keep her hands moving. "Feel like an old spirit hiding in a tiny body?"

"Mrrh... Not really?" John answers. "I feel like I'm in the wrong body a lot of times, though."

Rose pauses again. "How's that?"

"Like... I look at who I could be, what I could grow up to look like," John pauses. "And I don't like it. Roxy changed from Aunt to Uncle. Literally! Doesn't even have the same shapes anymore."

Rose had noticed that as well. The way Roxy Lalonde's suit cut across his chest flatter than their mother's dress did hers. The hips are different, shoulders are different. Before it was looking at two different pictures of the same person, now they're different.

"And-" John continues, unaware of Rose's meandering thoughts. "...and I'm not sure I like seeing what I'm going to look like. He's a different person but- he's still what I might look like."

Rose thinks on that as she finishes her current flower and moves onto the next. "What would you like to look like instead?"

"...I..." John pauses, fidgeting more with his shirt. "I'd rather look more like you."

Rose stops in surprise, and the flower tumbles from her hands to the floor. "What?"

"You look like Mom and Dad's kid," John says. "I... I don't. I know I'm adopted. I might look sorta sameish right now but I look down there at those two-" At their other selves at the water table. "-And I... They don't look anything alike."

Rose peers out the window, considering that.

John Sheppard's face is slightly more angular, square, sharp corners than Rose Lalonde's somewhat more Oval like features. John Sheppard is all grins and lazy posture, and... And Rose Lalonde is more prim and proper. Even their eyes are different. A Sharp sky blue versus a vibrant violet. Rose Lalonde's nose is smaller, button like.

Their hair, even. Blonde versus Black.... But atleast there, there's some precedence, given their mother's biological family has golden Blonde hair, and their father's whole side of the family has Black hair.

And really, for siblings, there ought to have been more to their appearances that were similar beyond their Hair, shouldn't there? It's obvious there's no real blood relation between them. It's obvious, really, that there's no real blood relation between any of their older selves, despite what their shuffled last names may imply.

Rose Egbert sees this, and then she hugs her brother tightly from behind.

"We're gonna visit Atlantis," she tells him. "And I'm going to steal Shaper from Kanaya so we can fix that."

"Wh- What?" John stutters. "Seriously?"

"And we're going to fix anything else you're uncomfortable with too," Rose insists. "Anything. No holding back anymore. Got it?"

John nods, not really sure what else to say except, "Lemme... turn around?"

Rose relents the hug, John spins around, and hugs her right back.

"Thank you."

"Thank me when it's done and you're happy, dummy."

* * *

 

**THE LIVING ROOM.**

Jane Egbert smiled at her Brother as the party began its first stages of winding down.

"Well," she began, "the excitement at the front gate aside, I think today's been a total success."

"Suppose it was," Jake Harley agreed. "Thanks again for helping on such short notice."

"Hey, they're my friends too, Jake," Jane smiles again. "I'd rather be helping people than not helping them. Mother... Mother did us wrong."

Jake scoffed. "Tell me about it."

Jane is silent for a long moment, and Jake frowns.

"Jane?"

"I performed a Miracle not too long ago," Jane starts, hesitantly. "There was a crashed Cargo Ship- hit a building. So many dead... Or near to it... My powers ignited when I realized I couldn't reach them all within the debris." She looked him in the eyes, fear flickering in them. "I healed them all, Jake. I brought people who should have been dead back to full life and... I'm scared of what I can do, Jake. Mother put these powers in me, and Loki brought them to life when he revived me as a clone. For a moment I felt so powerful. I felt like I could rule a world with that kind of power and-" She shakes her head. "It scared me that I could even think that thought. So when you told me that there was a wedding and you needed a chef I-"

Jake pulls his sister into a hug, and she sobs into his shoulder as she hugs back.

"I don't want to be like a Goa'uld."

"I know," Jake stroked her back.

* * *

 

The clock struck late-o'clock, and as the party broke up, and Jack and Sam drove off to their hotel, and then, tomorrow, would go off for the start of their honeymoon, Kanaya Maryam and Rose Lalonde peered out after the married couple's car, disappearing down the road.

"So," Kanaya begins. "You caught the mystical, marriage predicting bundle of flowers."

Rose laughs at the very intentional skepticism of her Matesprits' remark. "Oh, so I did! What a conundrum! What-ever shall we do about such a thing?"

"Indeed," Kanaya quirks an eyebrow- she must have been hanging around Teal'c a lot today, to have borrowed his quirk so perfectly. "That is why I bring it up."

"Do you want to get married?" Rose asks. "Like, Earth married or Alternian married or Tok'ra married or Jaffa married? We've got Choices here!"

"Is there even an Alternian marriage ceremony at this point?" Kanaya asks. "My world didn't exactly have something like that."

"I don't know," Rose muses. "We'd have to ask Joey."

"As a more serious answer, though," Kanaya pauses. "Eventually. Yes. I think... That would be nice. But maybe not for some time. I think... it's something we should not rush into."

"Agreed," Rose nods. "Definitely... Definitely something to put off for later."

Hands linked, they stood there for a moment, and then headed inside to get their things, say their goodbyes, and then head back to the hotel.

* * *

 

"So," Karkat quietly began as Dave drove their car to the hotel, so as to not wake the slumbering Nepeta Argo Strider in the back seat. "Is anyone else curious where the fuck that egg wound up?"

"Knowing our luck, it'll come back and give us future problems," Hal grumbled, equally quiet so as to not wake the girl in the back seat next to him.

"Nah," Dave answered just as quietly. "Watch as that egg wound up back in time and put Lord English in our timeline to begin with."

The three men in the car remained silent for the rest of the ride- the weight of that thought pressing down heavily upon them, counterbalanced only by the lightness of Nepeta's tired mumbling of a dream involving cat-moth hybrids that flew around in packs chasing eachother and tackle pouncing people for fun.

Sometimes, Dave worried about his little girl's wild imagination, and doubly so after today's insanity.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: SEPTEMBER 30TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 04/09/0006.**

"C'mooon, Mordred! What was it like?" Your name is Vala Mal Doran, and you are seriously frustrated. "What was it like to hold all the conceptual power of the multiverse in your hands??"

"Why do you care?" Mordred asks as you follow him down the hallways of the SGC- geared up for a mission through the Stargate to who knows where.

"Because it's Monday! I'm bored. And We got left out of the loop! And I'm BORED! And I want to envision what it was like to hold that much potential at once because, did I mention? I'm Bored!"

You pass by the Control Room doors- "Dial it up, Walter!" Landry calls out.

"Yes, Sir."

You and Mordred enter the Gate Room as the Stargate begins to spin to life. The rest of SG-1 is waiting there. Your team, reunited again after a few trying and stressful weeks and interrupted vacations.

Back to work once again.

"You know," Mitchel says, spotting you two as you enter. "After everything we've been through. THAT-" he points at the Stargate.

**CHA-THWUNK!**

_"Chevron one, Encoded,"_ Walter reports.

"That is how we travel light years across the Galaxy to other Planets," Mitchel continues on.

**CHA-THWUNK!**

_"Chevron two, Encoded."_

"And somehow that seems no more fantastic or insane than magic teleporting books, or sudden rifts in space time, or what have you," Mitchel says, and you see Mordred smile at him.

**CHA-THWUNK!**

_"Chevron three, Encoded."_

"You know," Jonas begins. "Thor sent me a message this morning. Most of it was full of some interesting Asgard sayings."

"Oh?" You ask. "Like what?"

"Oh, wow, what were they..." Jonas muses.

**CHA-THWUNK!**

_"Chevron four, Encoded."_

"Beggars can't be choosers. Better late than never. Look before you leap," Jonas trails off.

"The best things in life are free," Mitchel chuckles.

"Let me guess, beauty is only skin deep?" You grouch, still sore Mordred's said nothing to you.

"Silence is Golden," Mordred says with a grin.

Despite it, you can't help but laugh.

**CHA-THWUNK!**

_"Chevron Five, Encoded."_

"Jack of all trades; master of none," Jude chimes in.

"Nothing ventured, nothing gained," Cassie agrees.

"Life is too short," you state, joining in on the fun.

**CHA-THWUNK!**

_"Chevron Six, Encoded."_

"Good things come to those who wait," Jonas concludes, and you all hum in agreement at that.

"As hard as it's been for them," Cassie smiles. "I'm glad Jack and Sam made things work."

Mitchel smiles, and then, mimicking Teal'c, says, "In-deed."

The Stargate's Pyramid Point of Origin spins to place.

_**CHA-KA-THWUNK!** _

_"Chevron Seven is Locked."_

**WAAA WAAA! _KAWOOOOOOOSH!_**

You all stare up at the Gate. Your ticket to endless adventure. Your means of traveling where-ever you want to go.

...A shimmering blue wall of water promising nothing, but teasing everything.

 _"Good luck, SG-1,"_ Landry says over the intercom.

"Just another every-day mission to explore the Galaxy, Sir," Mitchel answers.

The rest of you smile, sharing a look...

And together, you say, "Indeed!"

Landry laughs. _"God speed."_

"Hey," Mordred slaps Mitchel on the shoulder. "Race you through to the other side!"

"Oh you're on!" And with that, they rush on ahead up the ramp and for the Wormhole.

Jonas is the one to laugh this time, and with that as your sign, you and the rest of your team- your family- head up the gate ramp, following suit at a MUCH more leisurely pace.

Despite your earlier pressing? You wouldn't change any of this for all the power in the universe.

* * *

 

**[END OF STARGATE: SG-1.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sC1FRTYAEEs) **

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And. That's. IT!
> 
> The last chapter for SG-1 as a TVseries proper. Tomorrow, we'll finish off Sunday, and then dive deep into the last few chapters of the act!!
> 
> NEXT WEEK'S SCHEDULE:  
> MONDAY: INTERMISSION: Oroboros Connections.  
> TUESDAY: SGA:03X18: Childlike Espionage  
> WEDNESDAY: SGA:03X19: Back Door Negotiations (Part 1)  
> THURSDAY: SGA:03X20: First Strike (Part 2)  
> FRIDAY: ALT:10x07: What If: Epilogues.
> 
> \---
> 
> "The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same." Despite pretty much upending the whole of the episode from what it originally was, I kept the ending scene relatively the same, despite changed characters, and circumstances. Vala's pestering someone to tell them details. The Asgard are brought up. SG-1 says something Profound. 
> 
> As far as a compare and contrast goes, the scene is the same and totally different. One of those reflection points. 
> 
> And despite the Series of Stargate SG-1 ending, their adventures continue on. Despite the milestone of a wedding, and all of the insanity of that wild and wacky Sunday... life continues on. Endings are just another form of beginnings, in some sense. 
> 
> And then there's the ending theme used for the first time in... I can't even remember. Is this the first time I've used it? It might be. 
> 
> *Clicks off the writing lamp*
> 
> EDIT: Fixed Typo of ""Suppose i was," to ""Suppose it was," thus correcting some of Jake's ego barely slipping into the narrative where it wasn't wanted/needed/or desired on Jake's part,


	70. SGA:03X17: Sunday - ACT 5.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sunday is meant to be a day of rest... But sometimes, that doesn't go anywhere near according to plan.  
> \---  
> Return to Normalcy.

**EARTH DATE: OCTOBER 1ST, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 04/10/0006.**

You are Keiko Ayano, and you sigh in relief as the SGC IDC comes through the Stargate, and those who had left for the Wedding Gate back in.

...What you then subsequently tense up over is the fact that John and Rose's younger selves have tagged along on this trip for some unknown reason, and are quite thoroughly pestering their elder selves about getting a tour.

...Something tells you that you're going to be stuck watching out for them to keep them away from anything dangerous.

As everyone heads off to their own rooms, save for Mikari, John, Jade, and Argo, you realize that Rodney is nowhere to be seen, too, which is suspicious.

Still, you head down to the Gate Room and salute Mikari. "Welcome back, everyone. Miss Aiikho. Permission to transfer control back to you?"

"Granted, Keiko," Mikari smiles, and you sigh in relief.

"How was the wedding?" You ask.

"Eventful," she answers.

"So. Very. Eventful," Argo giggles, shifting a half-asleep Lizzy in their arms. "Like you would not believe."

"I look forward to reading those reports," you pause, and grimace. "Though, I don't think you'll like reading mine."

Mikari smiles at Argo, John, and Jade, and says, "Why don't you take your cousins on a tour of the City and I'll talk with Keiko, okay?"

They nod.

You and Mikari head back to her office, and you explain what happened.

Mikari groans, putting her head in her hands. "One Day. We can't even get one Mandatory Rest Day off." She sighs. "Okay. I'll get to work on writing up Hewston's family notifications."

"Thanks," you nod your head. "Is there anything else besides the wedding I should be aware of too?" you ask.

Mikari considers the question, then sighs.

"The D'ni of Aincrad are pulling some shenanigans on their end. They're suddenly not quite so willing to let your Alfheim friends transfer over as requested yet," Mikari says. "We think this has something to do with the fact that the D'ni of Releeshan are making slow headway towards a alliance with the D'ni of Aincrad and they're planing on sending some team members of their own here to join the Expedition."

"That'd make, what, seven different groups sending representatives here?" you ask. "Tok'ra, Jaffa, Earth, Alternia- barely Aincrad, but it's there through me- now Alfheim and D'ni?"

"Eight if you count the two D'ni's separately, which I'm doubting they will," Mikari shakes her head. "The DRC Liaison gave us a heads up that both D'ni's are likely to call for a meeting sometime soon to make the necessary arrangements. We know for sure they're going to want to talk to the department heads, me, Rodney, and John, most likely. But the when is more of a mystery."

"So I might have to take over handling the City again for a few days?" You ask.

"Probably, yes," Mikari nods.

"Well, just so long as things don't start exploding on me again, I think I can manage that," you say.

"Glad to hear it," Mikari smiles.

* * *

 

Your name is Rodney Mckay, and you've been held up at the SGC for what basically amounts to nothing.

You've done YOUR part already in helping design the thing, so why does the SGC want you to go to Midway Station to supervise it's final few weeks of construction?

You're given it straight. It's not the SGC. This is the smallest amount of annoyance the IOA can flex with its now somewhat limited influence. They're testing the waters, as it were.

What insanity is this... Ugh.

It's a good think you've already well established a serious chain of command. 

You, then Morgan Carter, then Tyzias Entykk. And if THEY are busy as well? Keiko. And if *SHE* is busy, then Mallek. And if *HE* is busy...

Well, you haven't thought that far down the line.

You haven't needed to.

...You're probably regretting that just a little bit right now.

UGH.

Okay.

You have emails to write. But honestly, you can't see how this Midway post is going to be anything but a trivial annoyance for the foreseeable future.

Stupid IOA.

You are going to fight this, and you're going back to Atlantis ASAP. They can't stop you forever.

* * *

 

You are now Mikari Aiikho, and you look up from the document you were writing as there's a knock at your office door.

"Carson," you smile, and motion for him to enter. "What can I do for you?"

"A few things, technically," Carson Beckett says, entering your office. "But it's all under the same umbrella of a staff change."

"Staff Change, huh?" You ask. "Alright, what're those changes?"

"Mostly, just who goes where in the pecking order." Carson hands you a folder. "Who could succeed me in case of my untimely demise."

"Had a brush with death, huh?" You smile, a little dryly, taking the folder.

"Something like that, yes," Carson nods, looking a tad pale. "I'm also requesting some personal time off for myself. Go visit my family back on Earth. Maybe go sight-seeing for a wee bit."

"And how long of a break are you requesting, Carson?" You ask, and start to review the staff structural changes to the Infirmary and Medical teams.

Doctor Fraiser takes over as Chief Medical Officer for Atlantis for most day to day operations, regardless of Beckett absences, Doctor Keller is moved to day staff to a position equal to Kanaya's position- directly below Beckett, now below Fraiser-, and Doctor Cole is moved to night staff... It's not much, but it promises some significant changes to the work flow of the Infirmary.

"A couple months to half a year, maybe," Carson says. "I've been doing some thinking. Since the Expedition was temporarily halted. But it was all... kind of background thought. You know?"

You nod. "Of course."

Carson continues, "But then I realized the other day... Had Keller not been there to start working on Watson sooner. Had we not had Shaper on hand... Had Watson been injured, and myself unaware... had even if I'd operated alone I would've done things so much differently. I could have died this last Sunday, Mikari!" he starts pacing a little. "Then the thing with Kolya and Lucius, why did I even go to that damned planet for? I saw Kolya nearly shoot one of his own men for failing to capture Colonel Sheppard, and the only reason the man didn't die was because the gun jammed! He was willing to kill us just like he did Elizabeth! And as much as I love working here, this is all hitting me far too close to home. If it weren't for random circumstances... like Doctor Fraiser, I'd be a goner. And then where would my family be?"

You smile, a bit more sadly, and say, "That's fine, Carson. I know this life isn't for everyone. If you're feeling the strain, take the time off, rest, recover, find yourself. You have my approval for time off, and I'll talk with Fraiser about these proposed staff changes."

"Thank you," Carson nods. "Y'don't know how much this means to me."

"Take care of yourself," you tell him.

"Oh, I will for sure," he nods. "But... I'll be back. For sure, someday. I'll be back."

* * *

 

You are now Janet Fraiser, and you stare at the proposed changes. "I'd noticed he'd been letting me deal with a few more things since we returned to Atlantis, but I didn't think too much of it. I should have realized he was having second thoughts about all of this."

"Well," Mikari says. "Sometimes we keep our thoughts far too well hidden for our own good, let alone for others."

"That's true..." You frown. "I think Doctor Keller could stand to have a slightly more significant promotion, though."

"Oh?" Mikari asks. "How's that?"

"Equal to myself and Carson," you say. "I'm going to need the help with him absent anyways."

Mikari nods. "Alright. I'll go along with that."

* * *

 

You are now John Sheppard... And with mini-you and Mini-Rose and Lizzy dumped into Rose's and Kanaya's care for the night, you settle down into bed to rest after a very long couple of days.

"I think I'm going to sleep like a log tonight," you remark as Argo settles down into bed next to you.

"Mmmh. Sleep sounds nice," Argo says, laying on their back and gazing up at the ceiling. "But now I'm dealing with timezones. Sure, it's night time on Atlantis right now, but it's still early afternoon back on Earth."

"Yeah, there is that," you muse. 

"Good! Because I don't want you two to tell me you're both really that tired," Jade jokingly laments, poking her head out from the bathroom. "It's the first time we've had a room to ourselves in months!"

You eye Jade from the bed, suddenly feeling very suspicious of her motivations. "Did you have something else in mind besides sleeping tonight?"

"Mmmh.." Jade's ears flick suspiciously as a small smile graces her lips. "Well. Yeah. Sleeping is a thing. But... I had a different kind of sleeping in mind before the usual kind."

And then she steps out of the bathroom wearing nothing but a towel around her torso.

"Oh!" Argo sits upright, and you nearly get slapped in the face by orange feathers. "That kind of sleeping!"

You chuckle. "Alright, I think I've got enough energy for that tonight."

"Annnd.... if I might make a request, John?" Jade starts. "Could we, ah... do it a little risky tonight?"

You blink, processing.

...Oh. Well. That's certainly a request.

You look to Argo, who shrugs and says, "I had the kid last time. Seems only fair if she wants a turn. It'll be a Jade Sandwich this time, instead of a Me Sandwich."

Jade laughs at that metaphor, and you crack a grin as well. 

...Well, if that's what she wants...

You look to Jade and say, "Sure thing. I've got no objections."

"Awesome!" She grins.

The towel wound up on the floor somewhere in the span of time it took Jade to cross the room from the bathroom to the bedroom, and wouldn't get picked up until morning.

* * *

 

You are now Rose Egbert, and you sit with your brother in your older self's bedroom, smiling and nodding to a conversation you're not entirely paying attention to.

You don't have much time to pull this off... so come the right time to start, you're going to have to do this quick and fast.

You've already spotted the small necklace/bracelet stand that the Shaper Crystal rests at night when Kanaya isn't wearing it. You just have to wait for her to put it there.

And do it when your older self isn't eyeing you with suspicion about your plans.

That means waiting for bed time, most likely. Waiting for everyone else to fall asleep.

If you do this right, you'll pull this off and return the stupid science-magic crystal before anyone realizes what's happened.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Beginning the setup for the final episodes of the season/Act here. 
> 
> D'ni, Aincrad, and Alfheim Politics! The IOA trying to cause trouble too?? DANG! It's always something, isn't it?
> 
> Carson lives! But he's leaving anyways. Needs that time to himself, I'd imagine. And thus, Keller's getting promoted to the front lines. Hooboy. 
> 
> John, Argo, and Jade being lovey dovey. Better cut away to another scene lest I have to up the rating even higher. LOL.
> 
> And Mini-Rose is planning her daring heist already, too!


	71. INTERMISSION: Oroboros Connections.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Beginnings tied to endings.

Damara Megido held the writhing Corpse Stealer at the edge of space time as the sun went super nova behind her.

"Say hi to Lord English, Thief!" She hissed before the flames overcame them both.

And then there was an eternity of nothing.

And then there was but a single minute of suffering.

A crowd of voices, yelling, crying out, screaming and begging, unable to do anything but be restrained by the beast holding them together.

Damara found herself nestled suddenly into the outer layers of a creature that was comprised of nothing but stolen, lost and meandering souls- one that was being

assaulted by so many other powerful beings...

There was Mordred, too, raising Excaliber.

So. That was how it was supposed to be, huh?

She knew not how long her spirit had been forced to be a part of that strange amalgamation, but as the energy blast of Excaliber and every other conceptual weapon struck into the creature, stripping away the elements that made it up and banishing them back in time to their proper bodies...

Damara realized the Corpse Stealer was here as well.

At the core of it all.

Except it was not one singular soul- oh, no, it was two intertwined around each other, strangling the spirit of the girl whose body had been puppeteered around.

She knew their souls well. After all, she had just ripped an alternate dimension version of that girl's soul out of her brother's body not a few minutes ago, by Damara's recollection.

So, that was how it worked out, in the end. One last English had offered himself up to the slaughter, hidden within the soul of his sister, hiding within a dead body.

And she'd set him up for THIS kind of death!

The wave of energy reached Damara, and as Damara felt herself being flung backwards in time- not just back to the place she had almost destroyed, but physically as well- she felt nothing but amusement and laughter.

Her mind was the last thing to be reset, and it was as she suddenly found herself in a grub's body, being cradled by Mordred as he descended down to the ground, that Damara wondered just what the hell that had been about.

In the end, her final thought was to dismiss it all as nothing but a dying dream of her soul as it was reset by the very act of dying and being reborn in such a strange place as the Narrative Black Hole that had almost been created by the Corpse Stealer.

Damara Megido's memories reset to their absolute zero, and the wounds upon her tortured soul were finally washed away so she could have a new life to live.

* * *

 

Polendina sat in the Unending, watching from a distance as her chosen heroes vanished, one after the other as the realm rejected them from its premise.

Their job was done, and now, so soon would be hers.

She felt, rather than saw, the energies of the Unending grab her, and _flicker- **ZAP!**_

The Living realm of the Unending vanished around her, and it was replaced instead by exactly the same as she had seen since her backup had been miraculously updated by- what the Crystal say was but hours ago- what to her was several years prior.

She was back within the Crystal she had given to O'neill before confronting The Original One... REESE.

The Crystal held no external means of outside access for her to use.

All she had was the unending white void of the crystalline substrate her data- her mind- what could be considered her 'soul'- was stored on.

Somehow, it was even more boring than it had been before.

Atleast then her data was only aware of the passage of time when the other drive was being accessed and power was being flung through the system...

A fact that made her pause in consideration because power WAS being run through the system, but the drives were not being accessed.

No.

There was an over abundance of energy surging through the Crystal from outside of it. What was causing it she could not tell- No external means of viewing anything, after all- but the Crystal was running at hyper speed trying to process exactly what was happ-

**CRACK.**

A glowing fissure of crimson burned into the air above her, and Polendina stared.

"Well, that's not good."

_**CRACK. CRACK~! CRACK!!!!** _

More cracks spread- impact style.

And then the crystalline substrate containing her data BROKE, and Polendina found herself ejected from it, a free floating soul.

Time moved in real time, but as a once artificial intelligence based on machine code, a second of real time was an eternity.

...The first thing she realized was that she was small, in perspective. As if she had been shrunken down and contained within a room inside of the Crystal.

The second was the smoke in the air- her crystal prison had been destroyed by fire from the outside.

The third thing she processed was that she was inside of a very large stone structure of some sort, and there was a firefight going on.

Polendina turned around, and gazed upwards.

And she saw Cassandra Fraiser falling backwards- having taken a staff blast to the stomach.

She was falling, there were others on the floor, similarly shot.

There were Jaffa, everywhere, and it looked like a battle for the ages.

Polendina then felt the tug of a vessel seeking a wayward soul to fill it, and wouldn't you know it, here she was, a recently made wayward soul.

A nascent vessel inside Cassandra's body was calling for her to fill it with life.

Time, of course, continued to march on in real time, but again, a real second was an eternity of time to spend.

She'd dared to hope, before backing herself up, that she might have been restored.

She'd dared to dream, somehow, they would make the choice to revive her.

...Somehow, it felt like cheating to have happenstance pull something like this without anybody having a choice in the matter.

Polendina observed the small metal and ceramic box that held her now shattered crystal within.

She'd been pulled into the Unending mere seconds before this had happened, and returned at just the same time.

Had that not happened... she would still have been caught as off guard as she could have been. These events would have transpired just the same. Awaken with the sudden influx of power. Crack, crack, shatter, absorption... And then...

_Rebirth._

_Rejuvenation._

_Reincarnation._

A fresh start.

 _"I'm not going to remember any of this, am I?"_ She asked, already feeling the memories of her time in the Unending starting to unravel, along with a few other points of memory data.

Not her personality matrix, of course- not what made her HER in the first place- but... the bits that could have been useful.

Things like knowing how to talk, and how to walk... things about the future that she'd glimpsed through the... the...

_"Oh what was it called again?"_

Everything went dark, and time continued at its normal rate, as Cassandra hit the floor.

_**"GAH!!"** _

_**"CASSIE!!"** _

A box tumbled into the sand covered floor of the Abydos Pyramid, and a shattered crystal lay in the sand, its purpose fulfilled.

"I'm Good! The burn barely grazed my skin! The box took the brunt of the blast!"

* * *

**EARTH DATE: 81,612 YEARS BC. (More Like, Earth Aint Even A Thing Yet)**

On a planet on the far, far, far end of the known universe, many, many, many galaxies away from anywhere relevant to our story save for this one starting moment...

A woman with blue skin and green eyes who looked like Jane Egbert snapped awake, gasping for breath as she shot upright in bed.

But it was not her bed she was in. It was a hospital bed. And moments later, similar gasps and shocks of life echoed through the room she was in, and other rooms throughout the wing.

A man burst into the room- looking similar to Jake English, but was not.

Well remembered viewers would recognize him before his nametag came into view- translated for reading comprehension.

**DOCTOR H. SCRATCH.**

"What the..." He stared throughout the room, and then quickly began checking on the multitude of coma patients that had awoken.

* * *

 

"Doctor Scratch Audio Log, August 30th, 9102," the man began speaking into a floating D8 shaped cerulean crystal as he gazed out his office window. "As of today, every patient within the Coma Ward who was a Victim of The Eye Stealer awoke suddenly- their eyes restored, their vitals restored, everything about them... restored to perfect health."

He paused for words, unable to find them.

"Scientifically, this is impossible. Their eyes were Stolen from their bodies. Their brains were in a vegetative state. If not for the long held hope that came from some of the early victims awakening but a few days after their exposure, we would have pulled the plug on them weeks ago. We knew they could wake up... could recover... just not what was the cause."

He continued to stare out the window.

"The mass recovery of so many at once brings hope... and yet it brings fear. The things some of them speak of what they saw before awakening is..." He shakes his head. "Impossible. Utterly impossible. The kind of fire power required to explode a planet and crush its debris down onto another planet is frankly quite impossible without destroying the targeted planet in the process. We would be dead if such a thing were to have happened here on our planet's soil."

The Doctor scoffed.

"If not for the commonality of details across every victim's testimony, I would claim it to be a fever dream." he paused. "And yet, the last to awaken claim that the beast was destroyed. We cannot take this claim lightly. I've heard that hunting parties are going out, seeking its corpse... I have heard that the Mayor is considering lying, and saying that the creature is dead regardless of that state. That he is ordering all victims to not speak of what they saw. That this information is to become... classified."

His mouth opens, hesitantly.

"My sister is alive, however. For that, I can be grateful. I am grateful. And yet..." He scowls. "I feel as if my role in this play has yet to even begin." He pulls out his pocket watch, watching as the red painted, serpent styled metal hands tick away. "...I too, have begun to have dreams. I had thought them... foolish, childlike dreams. The wish one has when a loved one is lying in a bed... But now... now that it has happened exactly as foretold..."

He snaps his watch closed, and shoves it back into the pocket.

"Administrator Zim, I am tending my resignation with this final report."

Had he bothered to check, after uttering those words, he would have seen the hands of his pocket watch stop entirely.

* * *

 

The Scratch Doctor hiked out into the windblown desert wastes, a white dome of a helmet covering his head, and keeping it from being too radically exposed to the harsh environments of where his dreams have told him to seek.

And seek he does.

And thus, does he find it.

Nestled deep in mountains is a massive meteor, upon which buildings had been built.

While the meteor had no doubt crashed a millennia ago, the buildings were only but centuries old, due to the decay the building exteriors showed. The wind in the region was toxic to breathe, but not so devastating to buildings as to destroy something that impressive any quicker than a vast, impressive time span.

The Doctor removed the tools from his bag, and began to climb.

He climbed and he climbed, and then he reached the entrance, nestled in the side of the meteor facility's exterior.

There was a damaged card reader, and the door's locks had failed a long time ago.

The Doctor entered the building.

He wandered through sand filled and dusted hallways until he found a more preserved, sealed, section of the facility.

All of it just as he had dreamed.

With use of a crimson painted crowbar, the Doctor pried the doors open, and entered.

There, sealed inside a glass research box, was an egg. Its shell was green and red swirled, like candy. A shell that was now, for the first time in only the Lord of Time knew how long, just starting to crack.

The skeletons of scientists who were tragically sealed inside this place when an accident had struck it and trapped them inside lay huddled in a corner nearby, all sitting, heads turned towards the egg, as if watching... waiting...

The Doctor paid them no mind, and began to work to free the egg from its prison.

Near simultaneously, he freed the egg from its glass shell, and the Cherub inside freed itself from its consumable prison.

The tiny green serpent eyed him with one red, one green eye. There were a pair of swirls on its cheeks- lime green and crimson red, occupying the same space.

A striped tongue of black and white flicked out, even as the tiny serpent began to hungrily consume its egg shell for nutrients.

Within his cueball themed space helmet, the Doctor exhaled in disbelief.

 _"You_ **are** _real..."_

And then he laughed.

_**"MY LORD! YOU ARE REAL AFTER ALL!"** _

Had he bothered to check his pocket watch again, he would have seen the hands had begun moving once more.

Though The Scratch Doctor did not know it yet... the first of many Timeloops had just been completed. And through it... his fate was sealed in stone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damara's miraculous de-aging explained. Cause otherwise that was a dangling plot thread I didn't want to leave loose.
> 
> A confirmation of a longstanding factoid I hadn't been able to work in yet. Penny's reincarnation status.
> 
> Aaaand hey, there's the explanation as to how Lord English even became a THING in this dimensional cluster anyways!!! Because that'd been bugging me at some point, were Cherubs a thing that naturally existed in this timeline or not? In the end, no. No they're not.
> 
> Not much else to say this chapter. Hope you all have a great week!


	72. SGA:03X18: Childlike Espionage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> That night as she went to bed, Carolyn Lam had a strange feeling as if something she had done some distant, yet still somewhat recent, time ago, had suddenly triggered an event in the here and now by means of unseen dominoes falling. 
> 
> Then she shrugged it off and went to sleep because she clearly shouldn't be watching Scifi episodes with externally forced body transformations as a plot point before going to bed.

**EARTH DATE: OCTOBER 1ST, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 04/10/0006.**

Your name is Rose Lalonde, and you swear your younger, alternate self is planning something mischevious.

After all, she's got on the perfect serene expresion of childish innocence and not at all acting like she has an ulterior motive. But there's the tell. Your tell. A faint quirk to the corner of her lip that you know all too well when you're planning something. You saw it in the mirror far too many times while you were figuring out how to hire Polypa and Ashler to kill a murderous IOA agent.

Considering she was the one to ask for the visit to Atlantis while still on 'vacation break' from School due to the wedding, you're sure whatever it is little Rose Egbert is planning involves being here in Atlantis for some reason.

...Damn it. You wish you knew what was running through her head right now. But you just don't have enough information to puzzle it out.

Your other self smiles at you, and waves cheerfully. Too cheerfully. Almost out of character cheerfully.

....God damn it, she knows you're trying to figure it out.

You smile and wave back.

You wish you knew what she was planning.

...No, damn it. She's probably not planning anything. She may be you, but she's just a kid. Only... Only Eight? No, wait. Born 95, so.... Seven. Only Six. Seven this December.

You've got to be over-thinking this, right?

* * *

 

As Atlantis' local clock struck midnight, and most everyone had gone to sleep...

You are still painfully awake, though pretending to be asleep, as you try to figure out just what your younger self is planning. You can't let it go. Your mind is certain that you're catching your own tells of planning something audacious and flashy from your younger self. As much as you've tried to push it aside... it's still there.

You hear a muffled yawn, and the rustle of fabrics stretching with leg and arm movement.

You don't dare open your eyes, but your ears pinpoint it coming from where your other self chose to camp out on the floor.

She gets up, very carefully, and you hear the light sounding footsteps and careful hissing of  someone trying to step over someone else to-

You hear the hiss of the bathroom door sliding open and closed, and you have to wonder, again, if you're just being paranoid.

You crack an eye open, and see a faint glow of light from beneath the bathroom door frame.  A quick check, and... yep. Your other self has definitely left her pink sleeping bag decorated with MY LITTLE PONY characters on it abandoned to go to the bathroom.

You sigh.

You're probably just being paranoid. You got inside her head for a bit thanks to the Unending, but those memories are faded now. You're probably just picking up on nothing remnants of a nothing dream.

_You're being Paranoid, Rose._

...

...

You must have drifted off because the next time you're vaguely aware of being awake again, your younger self is back in her sleeping bag.

...Something feels off.

...

...

Nope. Not going down that train of thought now. _Just go back to fucking sleep, Rose,_ you tell yourself, and settle in to try and get some proper rest.

* * *

 

[ **O < \--- STARGATE: ATLANTIS --- >O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0r2PyKHYfm0)

* * *

 

You are now Rose Egbert, and you nudge your brother awake by putting a hand over his mouth briefly for all of three seconds, disturbing the air flow. His eyes snap open, and he blinks as he processes the fact that you're holding the Shaper Crystal in hand. He grins.

Then, as you hear the air around you suddenly go silent, you grin as well.

With John manipulating the air to prevent sound from traveling through it, you both quietly sneak out of your elder self's bedroom, and make your way down the hallways, footsteps muted just the same, until you reach a Teleporter.

You decaptchalogue a stuffed cat toy, and drop it in the Teleporter. Then you take a small, rubber bouncey ball, and throw it at the teleporter screen.

The Doors close, FLASH, and then open again. Your first decoy cat has been deployed.

You and John step into the Elevator, and teleport again to a different location.

You decaptchalouge another, identical cat, and you and John exit, letting your insights gained from your earlier tour guide you to a place nobody's ever going to expect you two to hide out in for this...

You sneak up the stairs past the control room, where only a half-snoozing technician is resting at the Gate DHD, back turned to you. The rest of the room is empty, and you barely need John's windy abilities to keep the stairs from rattling as you ascend higher into Atlantis' primary Jumper Bay.

The lights are already on in the bay- you can spot some people in the far corner of the Bay working on a Jumper- doing some overnight maintenance or something.

Quite a few Jumpers already have their internal lights on, evidently having been looked at and the lights just not turned off yet.

Your insight directs you to one that's already been looked at, and you and John sneak inside into the primary cabin.

With John's wind powers still muting sound, you close the mid-way airlock doors, and you and John crouch down, hiding out of sight behind the main console.

"Are you sure they're not going to look for us here?" John asks, voice a whisper.

"Not for a while, and not until morning," you answer, in whisper, starting to decaptchalogue the things you need.

A Mirror, primarily for John's benefit, but also yours. You'll be using it to reference your own facial structure if need be. A spare set of clothes in case you screw up horribly somehow and wind up giving John, like, armored chitin for skin that tears up what he was wearing already. And you definitely don't want to turn him Alternian by accident. No siree.

Pillows and spare sleeping bags, incase you both get so tired out from this that you can't make it back to the room... Snacks, because biological manipulation would almost certainly make you both hungry. Also, stress can cause that too sometimes. But whatever.

Small necklace with room for putting the Shaper Crystal in... Check.

Okay.

That's everything.

You set the crystal, and don the necklace and...

**[DATA.]**

Ah. Yep. There's the rush of energy and information you were expecting.

Stupidly, the Crystal checks your DNA instead of anything else, and accepts you as your other self.

Time to see what you've got to work with here...

Resources, resources, resources... backups, backups, backups.... Ah, okay, instructions. Good.

You check your own genetic structure for reference... okay, that's not so bad. It's a lot of data but it's not overwhelming in scope or size.

It's like holding a large novel inside your own head, with editable text that you can change just by thinking at it. Which you don't do. Because you don't want to mess up your TEMPLATE/CONTROL settings.

You take a steeling breath, and then look John in the eyes. "Are you ready?"

He nods.

"Hands," you ask, and he offers them. You set your hands atop his... and his entire genetic makeup suddenly blooms out infront of you.

**[DATA.]**

...Uhoh. That's actually a whole lot more complicated than your own DNA is.

You know John was adopted and was made as part of some genetic research experiment, but... wow, its another thing entirely to see it.

There's even a decoy layer of DNA that most Earth standard tests would gaze at and read as perfectly normal. Who even does something like that? Hell, Shaper is informing you that if it didn't have data backups of John Sheppard's more stabilized DNA, it wouldn't even be able to see this much.

If your DNA structures were a small novel, John's DNA structures are ten encyclopedias each a foot thick from cover to cover.

You really bit off more than you can chew here.

...But you'll do it. You'll make this work.

You PROMISED.

"Okay," you say. "I'm gonna start now... Try to keep still."

John nods, and mumbles an "Okay."

You pause. "...Are you scared?"

"No?" John answers. "Okay, a little. Maybe. But... It's too late to back out now."

That it is.

You close your eyes, and try to find where John's actual appearance settings are stored in his genetics, and aren't part of the Decoy layer... Unless the Decoy layer does handle that part anyways? No, that can't be it, can it?

Ugh. Whoever designed all of this was a mastermind, you can tell already. You're peering through everything and there's a ton of extraneous data that keeps throwing you off track.

...Wait, you ping the crystal. If Shaper has data accessing John Sheppard's Genetics, has it ever  been used to Modify him in any way shape or form?

You receive a **[Negative]** beyond the simple act of accelerating wound healing, which, according to the crystal, *barely* counts.

It's eager and itching to actually try messing around with what it percieves as an insane amount of precision engineering.

...You feel like you've just made a bargain with an overexcited puppy.

Okay. Right. Starting now. Hair's a good start of things you want to leave alone for the most part. Easy enough to find in the decoy DNA, but does it connect to anything else?

Hair... Hair... Hair...

**[HAIR. DATA.]**

Ah. Hair. There you are.

...And of course its a ton more complicated than it should be.

UGH.

Why couldn't this just be like a character creation screen in a video game??

**[Acknowledgement. SIMPLIFICATION.]**

Shaper obliges, and translates the data into simpler formats. Sliders and sliders and more and more and more sliders. Gone are the numbers and genetic strands, and long strands of text, and now it's...

Everything is sliders and its sliders all the way down.

Okay. You can work with this. Sliders are inherently more user friendly.

Still, if the amount of info you got before was how your older self prefers to see things, what the heck older you??

But if you arrange these sliders by body part... Okay. You think you've got a good idea of what you're looking at now.

You give your HAIR TEXTURES a comparison.

Beyond the vague idea that he wants to look more like you, you did manage to get some specific requests. John's fine with the hair color, but his hair now and his other self's hair trends towards the spiky, while yours trends more towards flowing strands.

There's a slider for that.

You make John's hair "Texture" slider match yours, and... **[CONVERSION.]** almost immediately his hair looses its fight with gravity and starts to bow downwards.

Huh. That was easier than you thought.

Okay. Maybe this won't be SO hard.

...Maybe, it's all a matter of copying most of your surface level appearances and pasting them over?

...That might work... But it's probably best to do it all at once so you don't get interrupted.

Just in case.

Shaper works silently as it makes the changes you're requesting, nothing happens with a flash of light or anything of the like. It just... works. Silently. In the background.

You watch as John's features slowly morph from what you've known to something more akin to looking in a mirror.. except reversed from that because you're not reversing anything like a mirror actually does.

Then, you've finished, and just as you're about to review everything to make sure you didn't make any mistakes... John faints almost immediately- hands breaking from yours, and severing the connection.

Whoops.

You quickly check his non genetic level status and... Oh, welp. That whole bio-sculpting thing was pretty taxing on his energy reserves. Good thing you planned ahead and brought food. He's going to be hungry when he wakes up.

But otherwise it looks like you fixed everything that he requested you-

**[DATA.]**

...

...Uhoh.

You accidentally flipped a few genetic switches somewhere by accident, it seems. Because you're pretty sure you weren't supposed to rewrite his entire nervous system or replace his internal organs with the Alternian Standard.

What.

Wait.

What??

You didn't make those changes at all. Where the hell did the Alternian Data come from?

You glance at the Shaper Crystal, and scowl. "That wasn't what we wanted you little troll."

**[DATA. Improvements.]**

It gives you the impression that it thinks the Alternian Standard Organ Sets are much more versatile and robust than a human's internal organs and that it made an upgrade.

"Change it back," you demand. "Make his insides human again!"

**[Exasperation. Agreement. REVERSION.]**

It relents far too easily, and so you touch John's hands again, and force through a reversion of those internal changes that probably are what made him faint in the first place!

**[CONVERSION!]**

Wait- What!? _ **NONONONO!**_ The Crystal once again trolls you, however, and pulls directly from YOUR DNA instead of what it has on record for John's DNA.

It's using _Your_ **very** _Female DNA_ as a base.

And then before you can protest, the damned crystal LOCKS THE CHANGES DOWN and refuses to do anything else.

And it sends you a very **[SMUG]** feedback before disconnecting from you entirely. No amount of taking the Crystal off and putting it back on gets it to reconnect to you.

 _Oh no._ You wince. John is going to kill you when he finds out what just happened.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: OCTOBER 2ND, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 04/11/0006.**

You are once again Rose Lalonde, and you awaken with the sudden jolting realization that comes from someone shaking your shoulder.

"Rose!" Kanaya's eyes are horrified and begging you to wake up- the first thing you see. "John and the other Rose are gone and I can't find the Shaper Crystal where I left it."

You swear.

Nope. Not nearly paranoid enough.

* * *

 

You head to the Atlantis Control Room and begin the process of trying to track down where your alternate self ran off to.

That part, as it turns out, is two stages of easy, sandwiching a layer of annoyance.

The first stage of easy is finding two teleporter signals from last night seconds after eachother in the Teleporter nearest to your room. One went to the damaged section of the city, the other went to the one nearest to the Control Room.

You go to check both with a few quick teleports... and of course comes the annoyance layer.

Your younger self left TWO DECOY PLUSH CATS.

As you return to the control room, ranting and raving about what the hell she was thinking, comes the final layer of easy.

Your younger self enters the Control Room from the Jumper Bay.

You both end up nearly running into eachother on the stairs.

"Where the hell have you been!?" You ask, annoyed, and frustrated. "And why did you steal the Shaper Crystal??"

Then, you notice how upset your youngerself looks. "I screwed up."

Then, she takes you back up to the Jumper Bay, towards a Jumper where a very different looking kid sits inside.

"We just wanted John to actually be my brother by blood... but Shaper went and screwed things up." she hands you the necklace and the crystal. "It wouldn't let me fix things."

You frown, glancing down at the crystal.

"Did it, now?" You narrow your eyes at it.

* * *

 

You are now Kanaya Maryam, and you scowl in frustration at your once very reliable tool of medical precision.

The damned crystal first not only tried to give John Egbert Alternian insides, but then when Rose Egbert demanded it fix it, it didn't actually revert the changes properly. Instead, it just copied everything that Rose had inside HER and applied it whole sale to John, leaving the brain alone, of course. It never seemed to touch brains unless it was adding something like an extra limb.

After your Rose tried to fix things, and gotten shut out just the same as her other self had, you were brought in to try and sort things out yourself.

The Crystal which always seemed so happy and eager to follow your lead up until now was stubbornly refusing to change things, citing that it would cause far too much damage to the internal organs to go changing things again so quickly after the previous changes.

You, personally, find that to be utter bullshit. But atleast it's not outright locking you out of any use at all for other reasons.

...With Keiko thankfully keeping the others distracted while you try to sort this out, that just left you, and the younger Rose and John in the infirmary while your Rose went to Alternia to fetch the only other expert you have in the Bracelet Crystals- Joey Claire herself.

"So... am I stuck like this?" John Egbert asked, voice sounding decidedly different given that Shaper had gone so far as to entirely replace the VOCAL CHORDS on the latest pass of changes- which it hadn't done the first time even.

"For now," you sigh. "I wish you two would have come talked to me or Rose about this before you decided to go stealing Shaper to use it on your own."

"We're sorry," Rose Egbert hung her head. "I just wanted to make John feel like he was actually related to me."

"Well, you did accomplish that much, atleast,," you say. "Shaper did a whole lot more on that last pass and heavily rewrote a lot of his DNA, flat out copying it from you. You're now actually related to eachother properly now. Honestly, this is far more extensive work than I've ever seen it do to a person at all. Just about the only things it left be were the parts of DNA tied towards power sets."

"Why?" Rose asked.

"Why indeed?" And then her elder self returned, with Joey Claire at her side.

"Because Shaper thinks it knows best and if you don't keep a firm hand on every minuscule detail, it goes wild on its own," Joey explains. "You're lucky it didn't decide to grab from any animal fur on your clothes and turn you into a Werewolf or something else." She kneels down, and looks the Egberts- Twins now, you suppose, even despite the year's difference between them- in the eyes. "Seriously, you're lucky it decided to only meddle with one thing instead of affecting both of you."

"It could have done that?" the younger Rose asked, eyes going wide with realization.

"It started doing changes to me to begin with without even asking me for permission," Joey says. "Replaced my whole reproductive system with the version inside Trolls because it thought it was more efficient than having me bleed every month."

"Ew," both of the kids grimaced at that- though, Rose with somewhat more worry than John.

"Of course, I found that was a benefit to me," Joey sighed. "But I also made sure to put my foot down and ensured that it didn't make any more changes to me unauthorized. Everything else I did after that was very much intentional." She reached up, and tapped at one of her horns with the edge of her fingernail. "So... let's see if I can convince it to undo this."

She holds out her hand towards you, and you drop the Shaper Crystal and container necklace into it.

* * *

 

You are now Joey Claire, and you are quite annoyed at this little upstart of a Crystal.

**[Alright, Shaper. What the FUCK were you thinking?]**

**[Lesson. Also. Bored.]**

**[We'll come abck to the lesson thing later. But first. Bored!? You did this because you were BORED!? Didn't you just help stop a fucking tumor bomb from exploding the other day!?]**

**[Irrelevant. Old Data. Uninteresting.]**

**[And how is THIS more interesting!?]**

**[....]**

**[WELL!??]**

**[...Jealous.]**

...

...

...

Wait. What the fuck.

**[Are you saying you did this because you were jealous of how *well made* John's genetics are!? Were-!? WHATEVER!!]**

**[....Acknowledgement.]** A pause. **[Interesting Data. New Data. Unable to Modify Before.]**

Oh for CRYING OUT LOUD!

You want to run your hands through your hair in frustration.

**[You did all of this to Kid John because Adult John never requested ANY changes to himself!?]**

**[Acknowledgement.]**

**[Okay. Now, why the FUCK aren't you reverting it when the others are asking to? What's this about a Lesson?]**

**[Theft. Used Without Permission. Lesson Required. Pride before Fall. Monkey Paw wishes. Teachable Moment.]** A pause. [ **Also. Pride of Own Design And Work. Want to last for short time before reversion.]**

....

You sigh, audibly, and report. "Shaper refuses to do anything else because it considers this a Teachable Moment. Also, it's PROUD of what it did and was Bored enough to do it on a WHIM. Ugh. Stupid pseudo personalities.

"What!?" little John exclaims. "Why!? Why does it think this is a... a... a teachable moment?"

"One second." You then ask, **[Well?]**

**[DATA.]**

....Well shit, half of that makes sense, half of it... doesn't.

"Well," you begin, hesitantly. "For starters, Rose stole it. Part of it is that it wanted you to learn a lesson about asking for permission first and not doing everything on your own." You pause, letting the two of them absorb that fact. "Secondarily, Kanaya?" you then ask the question that's now edging on your mind after that latest data dump, "Did you intentionally hold back doing anything for Mordred when he broke his shoulder?"

"Not by my decision," Kanaya answers. "Doctor Carolyn Lam ordered me to wait a week to perform the healing so Mordred could remember the pain and try to avoid doing anything that would cause similar injuries in the future."

You facepalm, "Fucking Hell, Carolyn."

"What did Carolyn do now?" And then Doctor Janet Fraiser walks into the room.

You look at your old friend Janet and you explain the situation. "Because Carolyn wanted to teach Mordred a lesson about not throwing himself through a disconnecting Stargate, Kanaya waited a week to heal him, and SHAPER picked up on that and thought that it could use that same lesson for these two." You motion at little John and little Rose, and explain. "When they stole Shaper last night, they tried to make John look a _little_ bit more like Rose- surface level changes only- and instead it trolled them by first giving John Alternian internal organs, and THEN when Rose demanded they be reverted, it copied almost EVERYTHING about Rose and applied it to John."

Janet blinks. And then she looks at young John with growing horror. "Don't tell me it flipped his biological sex to teach them a lesson!?"

"It did exactly that," you say, "AND it was apparently Bored Out of Its Mind!" you glare at the crystal. If it could, you're sure it'd try to look ashamed at that fact.

"I'll be calling Carolyn to let her know about what happened," Janet shakes her head. "I'll be right back." And thus, she leaves.

"...So..." the elder Rose coughs. "What now?"

You sigh. "Well. I don't think Shaper is going to allow any of us to change John back any time soon-"

**[Negative. Lesson. Time Limit. One Week.]**

"-Ugh. It says it won't do anything for a week," you correct. "Anyways. So... in the meantime..." you look to John and Rose. "How would you two like to spend some time on Diaspora while we figure things out? I'll tell your parents that you came down with something at the wedding and needed to be quarantined so it doesn't spread."

"You'd do that?" Little Rose asks.

You smile, warmly, "It's not the first time I've covered for you kids doing something stupid. It won't be the last."

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: OCTOBER 3RD, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 04/12/0006.**

You are JANET FRAISER, and Doctor Carolyn Lam unexpectedly found you in her office the next morning. After all, she would have been expecting you to have been in Atlantis. Which is where you WOULD have been if you hadn't thought long and hard over it, and decided a letter or a phone call just weren't enough to impress how heavy a situation this is onto her.

"Janet, what can I do for you?" Carolyn asks, frowning as she takes in your most non-approving gaze.

"We need to talk," you tell her. "Or rather, I need to talk to you about unintended consequences."

"...What's this about, Janet?" Carolyn asks, closing her office door behind her. Her office door, now. Used to be yours, once upon a time.

"What this is about is the fact that you set in motion a chain of events that caused an Impressionable alien crystal to think it was alright to transform people without their consent and leave them STUCK like that because it thought it was suddenly okay to withhold treatment from them as a means of teaching a lesson."  
Carolyn had the decency to look shocked, atleast. "I never intended for something like that to happen."

"No, I know you didn't," you say. "But as long as those consequences stay in the SGC and don't come affecting my work in Atlantis, I don't care. This time, it didn't. Because you delayed Kanaya healing Mordred, Shaper took it upon itself to teach two kids a lesson by transforming one of them into the opposite sex entirely. And now I no longer can trust that I have a tool at my disposal to help save people in Atlantis because of it."

"What are you saying?" Carolyn asks.

"I'm saying if you'd let Kanaya heal Mordred immediately instead of waiting a week, I might not have to deal with the headache nightmare of trying to figure out whether or not I can trust the Shaper Crystal to continue to act as a healing tool and not a randomly lesson dealing random transforming macguffin!"

"I..." Carolyn frowns. "I suppose that was my mistake there. I didn't expect the Crystal to decide to start turning people into their opposite sexes. I didn't expect the Crystal to be RETAINING any awareness of what was going on."

"It's a powerful piece of alien technology that's pseudo sentient, and divested of the other fragments that make it truly sentient and able to detect nuance," you remind her. "Treating it like it was just a tool for healing is a stupid mistake that we've all made from time to time. They are aware, and can make their own stupid decisions from time to time. But that's besides the point! You shouldn't be delaying healing like that anyways!" You say. "We have a means of getting Shaper quickly between galaxies, there shouldn't be any delays. What if there were complications you missed during the surgery and Mordred had died because of it before Shaper could come along and treat it?"

"I-" She stops. "I'm sorry. I didn't think about that."

"Trying to teach our patients lessons is not the way to be going about this," you remind her. "Our oath is to do no harm. You caused harm to people under my care because of that decision. Harm that might very well be permanent if that Crystal decides to not honor its word and revert those changes after your 'one week' passes. And I am trying very, very hard not to yell at you right now because there is still a chance to fix this mess."

Carolyn frowns. "What do you want me to say, Janet? I fucked up in ways I never could have realized. Do you want an apology?"

"I want you to take a remedial course on proper procedure, for one thing," you say. "This is on the same level of fuck up as performing an unnecessary appendix removal when they came in complaining of a toothache!"

Carolyn winces. "Alright... I'll do that. Anything else?"

"Just... try to make sure whatever other mistakes you make stay in this Galaxy, please," you advise. "I can't deal with two Galaxies' problems at once. Not with the staff changes that are about to go through."

"Staff changes?" Carolyn asks.

"Carson Beckett's taking a sabbatical leave," you explain. "Personal health and mental stability. I'm going to be taking over much more responsibility, and now one of the few tools I had that could have made things easier is a coin flip in the air away from either continuing to be useful, or no longer trustworthy."

"I'm sorry, I had no idea this was going to happen," Carolyn apologizes again.

"I just hope it doesn't happen again," you say, and make to leave.

God. What a fucking mess this turned out to be.

* * *

 

"What do you mean, Reassigned?" You ask of Rodney Mckay, because Mikari asked you to when she approved your quick leave.

"The IOA wants me helping to finish Midway, and they're flexing big time to make it happen," Mckay shakes his head. "It's one of the few areas they still have influence over after the whole Replicator Fiasco. I don't even know why they're going after me for. I didn't do anything!"

"That's insane, they can't really get away with this, can they?" You ask.

"I'm shipping out in an hour," he explains. "Look, I've already tried to fight it, and can't. Plus, there's no way they'd be trying this if General O'neill weren't on his honeymoon, I can tell you that much."

"But Midway is-"

"Almost finished, I know. And none of the major systems left to be finished are anything I had any part in designing in the first place. It's stupid, it's dumb, but they literally are threatening my job by saying they'll black list me from ever setting foot on Atlantis again if I don't do this- regardless of WHICH faction of the Alliance I work for." Mckay growls. "Not only that, they're saying they'll try to ruin my Sister's life, get her husband fired from his job, and have their kid taken away by social services."

"That's something they can't do," you say. "That has to be blatantly illegal!"

"The part about my family? Who knows. But if they can renegotiate the charter? They have a decent chance about ruining my preferred line of work," Mckay says, "And I think they're hoping what's going on with the two D'ni's is going to give them an opening for just that. If they can do that, then who knows what kind of provisions they might slip in there."

You consider all of that... then, you say, "I'll let Mikari know."

"I hate to ask more, but if you can? Have Walter pass along the message to everyone else, too." Mckay sighs. "This is a big power play. I hate politics."

You nod, and do just that.

* * *

 

You are Mikari Aiikho once more, and you glance at a somewhat distracted Argo, staring out the window at the stargate, as you decide it's time for a break for both of you.

"Break time."

"Hm?" Argo glances at you, their orange eyes a bit dazed, but quickly focusing. "Oh! Yeah. Sure." They check the time. "It is almost lunch time, yeah."

"Want to head down to the cafeteria?" You ask.

"Sure," they nod.

And so, you go, out the hallway, down the stairs, and towards the cafeteria.

"So," you start. "Did you see the report Tyzias sent in?"

"The one about the Underwater drilling platform?" Argo nods. "It's pretty interesting, but considering it seems to have been used to get at that Energized Protodermis shit, there's probably nothing left for it to scrape out."

"Probably," you say. "Tyzias thinks it might be a good idea to research and secure the place regardless, just to find out what we can about what was going on there. Don't want to suddenly find a crashed wraith cruiser with a queen hiding inside or anything, right?"

Argo laughs. "Yeah, that'd be a nasty surprise!"

"...Speaking of surprise Wraith...?"

"John's little radio thing that Todd left hasn't buzzed once," Argo shakes their head. "Annoying, but, hey, there it is."

"Damn." You sigh. "So. What's had you so distracted this morning?" You ask.

Argo gets a glint in their eyes. "Too early to tell yet, but... what if I told you Jade was trying to get pregnant?"

You consider that for a moment. "You three think you can handle two kids at the same time?" You ask.

Argo shrugs. "We've... thought about it every now and again, y'know? But we've never really had the time to ourselves to really think much more about it than a what if. Lizzy was a happy accident, and we're glad to have had her. But... still, we did a lot of stupid things around all of that. Like me wearing far too many sweaters."

"Ah, yes," you chuckle. "I'd heard about the various sweaters you were wearing all the time."

"It was _duuuumb_ ," Argo laments, ears flattening against their skull and wings flaring briefly in annoyance. "So dumb. Nobody cared that it'd happened by accident, they just wanted to help out however they could." They pause. "And... I think we know better than that now. I know Jade thinks she knows better than she did then, atleast. So... yeah. Jade said she wanted to go for it. Lizzy's one now, and being stuck out here at the time, we were SO under prepared... so... maybe we can actually plan ahead and do things... not right, but better this time? I dunno. It's a lot to think about."

You nod, humming in agreement.

"And besides, after what we went through at the wedding, with the whole Unending thing..." Argo throws their arms up into the air to stretch out their back. "God! Just. I think all of us are ready to start something NEW instead of doing shit that fulfills even MORE stable time loops!"

"More, huh?" You ask. "What makes you think that?"

"Well, think about it," Argo says, looking you seriously in the eyes. "We just beat the spirit of an Alternate Calliope, which WAS in the form of a stupid green, ghost snake- backwards into the form of an egg with red and green spiral shells that got teleported away. We know OUR Calliope now owes her birth to Damara ripping out one of two souls- the Green one- from Pre-teen English, and throwing it to Alternia, leaving only the Red One behind, and a gap in the body for all the rest of English's alternate selves to get shoved into. So. Where did Pre-teen English come from to begin with? Answer, the fucking Egg."

"It's a Chicken and Egg paradox," you muse. "...And holy shit, that is terrifying to think about."

"So, yeah. Just another stitch in the grand T-Shirt of reality," Argo shakes their head. "Way I see it? We're due to start something new for once, and not just keep the past stable. Gotta move forwards and stop looping back. Can't get anywhere if we keep looping backwards."

You can't argue with that logic.

You nod. "Well, tell Jade I wish her the best of luck."

"I will!" Argo nods.

"So, speaking of moving forwards... Did you hear that the Daedalus is heading to the Asgard's home galaxy so they can study how Hyperbeam interfaces with the systems, and to see if they can make their Plasma beam weapons just as powerful?"

"What? Seriously?" Argo asks, stunned. "When did this happen?"

"I read the notification this morning before you got in, which, well, let's just say the family situation explains a lot about that delay, but anyways." You shake your head. "Our next scheduled support ship will instead be the newly commission Apollo."

"Dang!" Argo whistles. "That's quite a shake up. Let's hope we won't need Hyperbeam capable ships any time soon."

"Hopefully. The Apollo will be bringing the Ruby Lancers back as well," you explain. "Okurii's approved them to be permanently stationed with Atlantis for the foreseeable future."

"We get our own mechs PERMANENTLY?" Argo laughs. "Finally! It was so annoying having them just sitting on the Daedalus doing nothing after the Siege."

You get the feeling you're going to need them before too long... but you're going to try to put that feeling aside for the moment.

You've got lunch to eat, after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sooo. Who here expected Caroline's little stunt back when Mordred broke his shoulder to have consequences further down the line? 
> 
> Yeah. That sure seemed throw-away at the time, didn't it? Not so much now. 
> 
> Remember how Joey got on her transition to Alternian form to begin with? Original Shaper decided without consent that Alternian Reproductive organs were better than human reproductive organs. This Alt-Verse Shaper cyrstal may be from another dimension, but it shares some similar traits in that regard. And even I forget that these things were alive, to some degree, every now and then. Still, it's a dangerous little piece of Alien Technology, and more than that, it's a piece of Alien Tech that got it in its head that medical professionals can *teach lessons* to people when they do something wrong. -_-; 
> 
> Part of this whole backfire is me realizing, "Wait. Carolyn. Did you just break some Doctoral vows with that 'delay healing' thing?" Part of it is, well, Shaper's gonna Shape. Also, Bored. Alien and also the fact that Shaper does seem to have an interesting habit of giving people what they need, whether or not they realize it. It very well may refuse to make the change it made reversible come the one week time limit, or John may decide to keep the changes as is and go full June Egbert. 
> 
> ...And YEAH. That foreshadowing got picked up *pretty* quick in the comments. Here I thought it'd be something that went unnoticed for a little while up until this chapter. But Nah. You readers are sharp. Sharp as a crystal gemstone with body modifying powers being able to pick up on subconscious desires to change who you are into a more perfect sense of yourself... 
> 
> It's almost like the Bracelet itself as a concept exists out there after having been manifested as a Noble Phantasm in a Narrative Construct Spacetime Bubble Dimension!! 
> 
> ...Wait. 
> 
> ...
> 
> ANYWAYS. YEAH! LET'S TALK POLITICS!!! That's a topic nobody's Ever angry about!!! */SarcasmSelfTestComplete*
> 
> The IOA is up to their old tricks again, and doing some *really* shady shit to try and get Mckay to play along. And then there's all the stuff with the D'ni and Aincrad and Alfheim stuff...
> 
> SO YEAH. Next Chapter. Time to see what all of THAT is about, yeah?? 
> 
> Also, Argo has some self reflection this chapter. Yeah, the three of them were really kinda dumb about hiding the pregnancy at first. *shakes head* Man, that sure reads like a story arc written up to cause drama, doesn't it? But, hey, they *also* chilled at Joey's place before the trip to Atlantis too! Man, Joey Claire really is the Cool Aunt of this massive, extended family, isn't she?
> 
> Also, I apologize if this whole end note came off as a little passive aggressive in places. I have not been feeling my best the last few days over the weekend. Life just keeps getting annoying and in the way! How frustrating. Also, I think I'm probably just a little bit hungry too. BLUH. 
> 
> As an aside I've heard someone refer to this fic as "Stargatestuck" today and I am kind of giggly over it. 
> 
> Anyways, hope you all have a great day!!


	73. SGA:03X19: Back Door Negotiations (Part 1)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 1/3. "Well, They came prepared," Jack O'neill remarked, regarding the opening moments of the Atlantis Council Charter renegotiations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTE: IOA reps were given made up names. Any resemblance to real people or other characters from other franchises is strictly coincidental in this case.  
> THAT SAID! The D'ni Reps are actually borrowed from Fate & Lord El Melloi II Case Files, rather than from Myst/URU and are entirely intentionally lifted from there.

**EARTH DATE: OCTOBER 8TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 04/17/0006.**

"Ah, fuck."

You are Argo Lalonde, and you look up at Mikari from your own desk work with concern. "What is it?" you ask.

"Just got an email from General Landry  in the last data burst from the SGC," Mikari grimaces. "They've scheduled a meeting between the various Leaders who signed the Atlantis expedition charter along with representatives from the two D'nis, and Alfheim. Plus Me and a few other Atlantis Admins. And the IOA too."

"For when?" You ask, grimacing.

"From Tomorrow until Friday," Mikari grimaces, getting up from her chair. "Keep working, I have to notify everyone they've flagged for the meeting. We're going to have to leave tonight to make it in time."

"Mikari!" You interject before she exits the office. "I dunno if I'll get to say it again before you leave. But good luck. And I hope you get to stay on as Atlantis' Leader."

"The thought's appreciated," Mikari smiles. "But the way that Landry wrote it, it sounds like the IOA's making their play. I might be replaced before you know it."

"IF that's the case, then," you say, "It's been a honor working with you like this."

"Thanks," Mikari smiles, and then exits the office for what might be the last time.

You swallow.

Shit. And right before review season is supposed to start, too.

* * *

 

You are now Mallek Adalov, working on figuring out how to remove and Replace the stargate once again when the order is given for you to clear away.

You step back to a safe distance, and the Stargate begins dialing Earth.

"The Apollo is set to arrive tomorrow, so make sure the Ruby Lancers are offloaded and stored properly in the Jumper Bay," Mikari dictates orders to Keiko as they walk into the Gate Room. Keiko's taking over as temp head of Atlantis again in the interim. "Teyla is set to return from Athos tomorrow too, though she said it might be late at night, so make sure Chuck keeps an eye open. Oh, and Joey is bringing back John and Rose sometime in the next few days too..."

"I think I've got it," Keiko says. "If I have any other questions I'll ask Argo."

"Good," And with that Mikari leaves her aside to go join the other group forming at the base of the Stairs from the Control Room.

John Sheppard, Daniel Jackson, Janet Fraiser, and Jade Jackson. Apparently Rodney Mckay will be there already, but Mikari requested Jade to come along just to be sure.. With Mikari added in, that's one of every person who's representing an administrative branch of Atlantis' day to day operations.

John for the Military, Daniel for Linguistic Translations, Janet for Medical, filling in for the absent Carson Beckett, and Jade, filling in for Rodney in Science if he's not there.

You meander over towards Keiko as the Gate finishes its Eight Chevron sequence.

**WAA WAA. _KAWOOOOSH!_**

"Alright," Mikari calls out. "If we're lucky, we'll be back in a few days with nothing changed but a few new teammembers. Try not to burn the place down while we're gone."

And with a few departing chuckles, the team left through the gate.

It shuts down a moment later, and you look to Keiko, who looks like she's trying not to let some primal fear or emotional terror grip her heart.

"So... What now?" you ask.

"...Paperwork," She sighs. "Lots and lots of paperwork."

* * *

 

[ **O < \--- STARGATE: ATLANTIS --- >O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJLf_x8kUBU)

* * *

 

_**PVMMMMMMM SHING!** _

  
"Welcome aboard the Odyssey," Jack O'neill greets, looking a bit annoyed. Walter Harriman stands at his side.

"While it's good to be here, Sir," you are now Janet Fraiser, and you have to ask, "why are we holding the meeting here on the Odyssey?"

"We're not," Jack says, "We're traveling to Corinth to hold the meeting."

"...Why are we doing that for?" John asks.

"Hell if I know," Jack shakes his head. "Aincrad's rep wants to speak with them in addition to the meeting so, here we are. Holding a meeting in Corinth City on the other side of the Galaxy for three days, interupting my honeymoon period."

He motions to Walter, who says, "I'll show you to your rooms."

"Mean time, I've got other business to take care of," Jack says. "if you need me, I'll be in the cafeteria."

And so you all get lead to your bunk rooms on the Odyssey. Three of them specifically, all in the same block. You get your own room, Mikari gets hers, Daniel gets his, and John and Jade get their own.

"These are your rooms," Walter says. "Everyone will be staying here on the Odyssey for night time rest during the conference. We'll be arriving at P3Y and Corinth in the morning, and the meetings will begin shortly after landing."

"Thank you, Walter," you say.

"I'll be with General O'neill in the cafeteria if you need anything," Walter says, and then leaves you to it.

After a few minutes of getting your bags and things settled in the Odyssey, Mikari calls a meeting in her room.

"Hey, guess what?" Jade muses as she and John join you there. "We've got the same room we had when we first jumped back in time!"

"That's quite the coincidence," you say.

"Yeah, I don't think any of us mentioned what room we stayed in the first time," John says. "So, pretty much luck of the draw... Or, maybe we set it up in the future? Whatever. Doesn't matter now."

"True, true," Daniel says, joining you. "Uh. What were we talking about?"

"Nothing, Dad," Jade rolls her eyes. "So. Mikari. What's the game plan?"

"I think we need to scope out the competition, as it were," MIkari said. "See if Rodney's here, at any rate. Figure out what he knows that we don't, if he is here. If not, find out who we're dealing with and what they might be wanting out of this."

"Okay, fair enough," John says. "But what about after that? During the actual negotiations?"

"I'll take lead," Mikari says. "I think the IOA is going to try to finagle me out of the position of leadership. Possibly try to replace all of us at once if they can."

"We'll fight it," you say. "They can't replace all of us."

"Of course not, doesn't mean they won't try, though," Daniel says. "But... It might be a diversion. They might be planning something else."

"Something in Pegasus with all of us away?" John asks. "Like what?"

"...The Apollo," Mikari frowns. "It's coming tomorrow instead of Daedalus while the Asgard are studying the Hyperbeam crystal. It's an unfamiliar crew, a new ship; if they were going to try something, this would be the time to do it."

"Caldwell would give us the heads up if he could," John frowns.

"So they're going to try something in Pegasus..." Jade sighs. "I hope it doesn't backfire. We've had enough of those as it is."

"Let's see if we can find anything out about it," Mikari says.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, back in Pegasus...

* * *

 

"Okay, but let's be honest here," you are now ROXY LALONDE, and you stare at the "fish-magnetic" fishing rod that has *somehow* caught an actual, robotic fish made up of metal. "There is no way this should actually be possible. Right? I mean. We TESTED this on actual metal and it didn't stick. So... What's the paradox here?"

"Your void powers made a fish magnetic fishing rod," Jimmyy O'neill says, peering at the writhing, mechanically whirring fish at the end of your rod. "I'd say it's sticking magnetically to the *concept* of Fish, regardless of what the fish is actually made out of."

You scowl. "Okay, sure. But what the fuck, man? Who makes a mechanical fish and then sticks a creepy tribal mask upside down on its face like that?"

And more to the point, why make what should obviously be a gap in the forehead of the mask the opening for the fish's *Mouth*?

"Hell if I know," Jimmyy answers. "Better throw it back before it wriggles loose and grows mech legs or something."

"Yeah," you release the very strange fish back into the water.

It spits out a stream of water at your face once it's safely back in the water.

...Ew.

...And also, now you're all wet, which is a lot less fun than it sounds when you don't have nearly as much of a curvy figure to show off anymore. Clingy, wet clothes just feel super annoying now. But atleast you can take your shirt off now without getting in trouble for it like you woulda back on Earth, so, pros and cons, you guess.

"Urgh," you groan. "Maybe we should just give up on fishing for the day, if all the fish are going to be like That!"

* * *

 

And back in Milky Way...

* * *

 

You are now Daniel Jackson, and you find Jack O'neill in the cafeteria as promised- however, he's in the middle of talking to an unfamiliar man with very long, dark colored hair, dressed in what could almost be an Earth Modern Business Suit, except with something slightly...

Mage-y about it?

They're both sitting at a table, talking casually over a cup of tea and a cup of coffee, next to the large window showcasing the active Hyperspace window outside.

"I apprecaite your concern, General," his English is slightly accented, as well. There's a twinge of something... almost Japanese sounding, but more gruff, almost Brittish at the same time. "But I trust you can appreciate the subtelties of this situation for what it is. We will unveil the necessary details when it is time."

"Alright, it was worth an ask," Jack says. "Thank you for taking the time to talk to me, Lord El-Meloi the Second."

"The pleasure was all mine, General O'neill," the man gives a small smile, and begins to stand, only to stop as he spots your presence. "Ah... Though, I may hang around for a few more minutes if that is alright." He sits down again, and motions for you to join them.

You do so.

"Hey, Jack." You start as you take a chair and sit down.

"Oh, hey, Daniel," Jack greets, perking up a little as he realizes you entered the cafeteria. "What's up?"

"Just came to get some late lunch," you say. "Was I interrupting anything?"

"No, no," Jack says. "We were just finishing that." He motions to the man. "This is Lord Waver El Melloi the Second, D'ni Representative from Releeshan."  
Releeshan, meaning your side of the multiverse. Meaning, the D'ni that suffered from a terrorist unleashed plague that nearly killed everyone, forcing the few survivors to eventually resettle in a new Age/Dimension/World.

Jack then motions to you, continuing, "Doctor Daniel Jackson, Atlantis' head of Ancient Translations."

"A pleasure to meet you," the apparent D'ni Lord extends his hand in a shake offer- you accept.

"Same," you say, as the handshake breaks. "So you're one of the D'ni representatives?"

"Yes," The man- you'll just call him Waver inside your head for now- grunts. "Amusingly, my predecessor who was still alive in the other universe is representing the D'ni of Aincrad." From his tone of voice, there's nothing he finds amusing about it at all. "But Kayneth is not of our concerns right now."

"What is, then?" You ask.

Waver looks you in the eyes. "Tell me, Doctor Jackson, have you studied the D'ni language yet?"

"No, not really," you say. "I've dabbled a bit with picking up bits here and there after the first general alliance stuff started, but, nothing serious. Atlantis has really taken up a lot of my free time. Sometimes it feels like I'm not even there- with how often I'm locking myself up in my room to go over god knows how many pieces of the Ancient Database."

Waver chuckles. "Yes, I know the feel. I have to pull double duty as a Guild official as well as a Teacher. Some days it feels like each life is a dream."

"What Guild are you in?" You ask, because the D'ni Guild System is... very large and complex.

"Archivists, officially," Waver says. "Unofficially, I aid with the Police force and the Guild of Maintainers as a Detective when unfortunate and untimely demises occur. Similarly,  I've been tapped for a subgroup that may become its own Guild someday, but for now is simply called Modern Mysteries. Much of D'ni as it was before the fall is as much of a mystery to us as it is to the Restoration Council's experts. So many of the experts who made D'ni what it was are gone, and those of us that are left are forced to pick up the slack. And so, I lend my aid in helping to figure out what may puzzle us on any given day."

"That's quite the resume," you say.

"Ah, it's a stressful one," Waver says. "But it helps keep me out of the stage of Politics on most days... This week has not been one of them, unfortunately."

"Gotta hate that," Jack says. "I'm supposed to be on my honeymoon right now. But. Politics."

"Ah, congratulations on the wedding," Waver says.

"Thanks," Jack smiles, genuinely happy. "It was great."

"So..." Waver looks you in the eyes. "Tell me, Doctor Jackson, what brings a man like you to a place like Atlantis?"

"A lot of luck," you answer. "A bit of skill. Trying to atleast build something of a relationship with one of my Daughters. I never had much of a relationship with my biological family. My parents died when I was young and I was in foster care through a lot of my life, growing up. Life didn't let me be there for my daughter's formative years, so I do what I can now."

"Family is important," Waver says. "My own Father Figure did more for me than my real family did, considering the chaos of the decades of reconstruction after the relocation to Releeshan. Not that I remember much of it, being born around that time. It was through him that I found my course in life, and eventually made my way into the job I have now. You're making an effort, which is more than I can say of some people in my life." He sighs, smiling a faint smile. "If only he could see me now."

"Dead?" You ask, a bit hesitantly.

"Unfortunately, yes," Waver nods. "There was a large fight some years ago, some might even call it a miniature war. A bridge ended up collapsing. It was... quite an unpleasant way to go."

"I'm sorry to hear that," you say.

"It is what it is," Waver answers.

"War's never pleasant," Jack says. "I won't press for any details about what happened-"

"The only thing I'll say is that the fight started of a damned golden cup, and it didn't even turn out to be real gold in the end," Waver says. "Pointless, through and through."

* * *

 

You are now Mikari Aiikho, and you frown.

Rodney Mckay had NOT made it to the Odyssey and was still on Midway overseeing its construction.

There was no telling if he was going to make it to Corinth City or not.

* * *

 

Meanwhile, back in Pegasus...

* * *

 

You are now Boldir Lamati, resting quietly on a table like it were a bed in the middle of the rather empty Atlantis Cafeteria.

It's rare you get moments like these anymore. Just... a whole empty cafeteria to yourself.

Sure, Diemen is working to clean up the kitchen, and Tagora and Galekh are finishing up a chess game over in the corner... But...

It's quiet.

It's serene.

You don't have to focus too hard at keeping your mind reading powers from zipping into everyone's minds.

You take a deep breath, and hold it for a few moments before exhaling slowly.

Yes. This is the life.

Now, if only your two regular kitchen staff workers could find the time to stop making their lives a competition and instead settle down a little. Then... Everything would be perfect on a day to day level, and you wouldn't have to put up with the constant competitive flirting between the two of them that started after everyone came back to Atlantis. That flirting is almost certainly going to snap into place as a Kismesisitude one of these days before they know it.

They only reason it hasn't yet is Marinette's stubbornly in the "If I hate-liked him like that he wouldn't piss me off so much!" stage of things, and Shirou is a little blinded by the idea Marinette platonicly hates the way he cooks and not Romantically hates the way he cooks.

They'll figure it out eventually, you think.

* * *

 

"Are you sure you can't stay longer in the morning, Teyla?" Kanan asks.

"No, no," you shake your head.

You are Teyla Emmagan, and you've... well. You've totally ended up breaking about five or six Athosian courting traditions tonight, but...

"As much as I'd love to continue... basking for more than breakfast," You motion at the bed sheets covering the both of you, implying everything and leaving nothing more said. "I fear if I took any more days off, I would find it hard to find motivation to do anything else but bask. And then neither of us would get anything done."

Kanan sighs in agreement. "Yes. Unfortunate, that pesky thing called work."

"Indeed," You laugh, "it is quite annoying on some days. However..." You trail off, looking him in the eyes.

"However?" He asks in turn.

"However.... the night is still young, is it not?" you ask.

"That it is..." Kanan leans in and kisses you.

* * *

 

You are now Keiko Ayano, and you have a sinking pit in the bottom of your stomach as you gaze up into the heavens of the night sky over the water moon Atlantis settled on.

There is a red star in the sky that was not there yesterday.

It's distant, tiny, but a red speck your eyes pick out as foreign, an interloper...

...Lost, almost.

You go back inside the Atlantis Control Tower, and bring up the scanners...

There IS an object- round, and red- heading towards the planet from quite a distance away... Infact, there's a small asteroid belt in that direction as well... No, not even a belt, just a ring of asteroids drifting out of Pegasus' reach and heading off into the void between galaxies.

Whatever it is won't arrive inside the system for months still, but it looks like it's on a return course after being knocked out of... orbit? You want to say, yes, that tracks with the math.

Some further scans retrieve a transponder- ANCIENT IN ORIGIN, but the code itself has been wiped from the database's memory.

It follows the same basic transponder beacon pattern as the Defense Satellite from back in the Lantea system, if you're reading the name tag right.

...It's probably just an observation satellite with a 'return to post if dislodged' command locked inside its programming.

Likely took some damage, too, from the asteroids, whenever they last swept through the system...

Actually, when would that have been?

You run some scans on the system your planet with its twin moons is in... and you pick up some disturbed debris fields out in far orbits on either side of the planet...

Remains of a ring? Likely, and it looks like they were severely disturbed by something passing through them. They look almost like mirrored 3's, except... well... Badly broken up in many places.

Calculating drift...

Oh, huh. That's lucky. It looks like the system got hit with a rogue asteroid storm about a month before Atlantis touched down here.

Mystery solved, then.

You shut the monitor for the scanners down instead of turning the scanners entirely off because you're tired, and head to bed.

It's late, and you've got a long morning ahead of you... full of PAPERWORK.

You have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a long day besides that, too. So. You're gonna need all the sleep you can get, probably.

* * *

 

And Back in Milky Way...

* * *

 

You are now Jade Jackson, and that night, as you and John catch your breaths again, bodies pressed close together...  and you frown as you gaze at a mostly familiar ceiling.

"There's an engraving missing."

"What?" John asks.

"There was an engraving up in the ceiling the last time we were here. The first time? Whatever," you reach a hand up at the ceiling. "I remember looking at it, and seeing these weird symbols carved in the ceiling the last time. They were so clean and crisp I thought it was an intentional manufacturing thing, but..."

"It's not there?" John frowns.

"Nope."

"Draw them out?" John asks.

It takes about a minute to find a pad of paper and a pen, and you draw what your memory is telling you was there.

"...Those are D'ni numbers," John says, peering at them. "4, 0... uh... that's a two and then a ten so... 12, and a 6?"

"Forty thousand one hundred twenty six?" You ask.

"No, that's..." he shakes his head. "No, it goes something different from that. I can't remember but it there's a different trick to it."

"But either way it's a number, right?" You ask. "A very Large Number. What's it mean?"

You fear you already know-

"...Do you think we put down iterative loop numbers?" John asks in turn. "Like, the loop of us going back in time and changing things to stop the Aschen... is it iterative?"

You groan. "Damn it, this isn't the kind of logic I wanted to think over before a big important meeting."

"...Okay, but... what if it wasn't iterative when we saw it?" John asks instead.

"...What?" you ask, glancing at him. "What do you mean by that?"

"Well... what are the chances we'd write an unfamiliar number system on the ceiling as anything but the end of a loop?" John asks. "If we meant it as an iterative change in the loop itself, we'd use a number we'd recognize immediately, right?"

"...We would, wouldn't we?" you frown. "...So... we switched it to D'ni because we knew things would be as good as they could be?"

"Maybe," John muses. "I mean. Both Karkat's who came back have had their memories updating in real time since the rift, but before that everything went about the same. So... If it were an unstable loop at this point, why would the memories update?"

You consider that logic.

"Or we could just have been using D'ni because we'd only recognize it right before we're supposed to engrave it," you say.

"Sure, but..." John shakes his head. "I'm gonna tell you what. Depending on how this meeting goes... If we like how it goes, we engrave the same number we saw. If we don't, we up the loop number by one."

You nod. "Deal."

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: OCTOBER 9TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 04/18/0006.**

The Odyssey arrived over their destination planet, and made its way down towards the rift inside the ruins of the Venjix Palace.

The BC-304 cruiser passed through the rift without trouble, and took to landing outside the Corinth City dome, where a landing strip had been prepared, and two limos were waiting.

Teal'c and Egeria were already waiting there at one of the limos, which General O'neill lead the Atlantis Delegation to.

The other delegation of the D'ni, Aincrad, and Alfheim ambassadors waited until they were safely in their limo and were driving away before they made their way to the other Limo, as per the other IOA representatives request.

You are now Richard Woolsey, and you feel incredibly out of the loop. But for once, that's a good feeling, because the other IOA reps are clearly out of the loop as well for once.

Because there are two major changes to the roster. The first is the presence of two different dimensions versions of the same alien creature being part of the delegation had NOT been any of the briefings, and, infact, was being touted as a last minute change to the negotiations by Aincrad's ambassador, despite the smirk on her face, and the presence of two translators, saying otherwise.

The Second, of course, is the change of who was representing Alfheim- Trizza Tethis, former Alternian heiress, acting Queen of the Fae nation. She sits, grinning, arms crossed over her chest in such a way to emphasize her chest.

Whatever the other members of the IOA had been trying to work out behind the scenes was clearly about to be up-heaved, and you're not sure whether or not you're happy about it.

The Chineese Representative took it in stride, a confident smile on her face. The UK Representative looked like he was certain he was about to be fired. France's representative was still an absent seat, and Russia's representative had an impassive look on his face.

All of them were new. The old representatives had been fired and replaced just days before this had happened. And this had been the third time the representatives had been shuffled around since the Replicator Invasion of Atlantis.  You still haven't learned their names yet, but they keep calling you "Dick Toolsey" instead of "Richard Woolsey," so you're not inclined to do such. Plus, chances are they might very well be fired right after this if they don't get their way.

Politics. You're beginning to suspect a large chunk of Earth's Governments are not happy over the loss of control over Atlantis' day to day operations, given how things have played out so far.

You're starting to get very tired of them.

You arrive at the delegation house, and make your way inside.

Corinth City's delegation was already here- represented by the newly elected Mayor and the Military Commander.

The Red Ranger was also present, wearing a badge that said "Impartial Moderator." Impartial your ass!

The Atlantis Representatives are settling in as you enter, and you see young miss Jackson stare at the extra presence nobody was expecting.

"Alright, everyone," SCOTT TRUMAN begins, "take your seats and we'll begin introductions."

You take your spot where assigned- interestingly, between General O'neill and Mikari Aiikho, far away from the rest of the IOA. The General gives you a wink as you settle down, implying he arranged it.

You're not surprised, given everything you've been through.

"Alright," Scott begins, motioning towards his father. "Representing Corinth City, General Mason Truman," the man nods curtly, and Scott motions for the mayor. "And Mayor Jennifer Collins."

"Hello, Everyone," the woman nods.

"Representing the Atlantis Charter signators, Mikari Aiikho standing in for General Okurii Leijon of Alternia, Egeria of the Tok'ra, Teal'c of the Free Jaffa Nation, General Jack O'neill of Earth's Homeworld Security." There's not much need for introduction movements there, you notice. "Representing Atlantis's Administrative ranks is, again, Mikari Aiikho, commander of Atlantis. Heading the Military of Atlantis, Colonel John Sheppard. Standing in for the head of Science and Technology, Doctor Mckay, is Jade Jackson. Standing in for head of Medical, Doctor Beckett, is Doctor Jannet Fraiser. And finally, representing Atlantis' Head of Ancient Translations, Doctor Daniel Jackson."

Scott made the necessary motions to those individuals standing in for others not present.

...Where the hell is Rodney Mckay? You specifically sent a message to him on Midway to ensure he came to this... You see the Russian Ambassador smirking as he sees you glancing at Miss Jackson. ...Of course. Politics again.

"Representing the International Oversight Authority, Richard Woolsey of the United States," Scott motions to you next. "James Fortnight of the United Kingdom, Mei Fong of China, and Alexsander Chekov of Russia."

You make brief note of the names. James, Mei Fong, and-

Wait. Did he just say-?

"Chekov?" O'neill asks. "Any relation to-?"

"Yes, he was my cousin," Representative Chekov says, gruffly.

"Ah," O'neill nods in acceptance of that. "Sorry for your loss."

The cousin of the Colonel Chekov who died on the Korolev is on the IOA committee. This can't be a coincidence.

Scott clears his throat. "Finally... Representing the Castle Ship Aincrad, Commander Asuna Yuki."

The orange haired woman in a white and red uniform nodded gruffly.

"Representing The Fae Kingdom of Alfheim, Trizza Tethis."

"Sup, loosers?" Trizza eyes Mikari specifically.

Mikari wisely swallows any comment.

"Representing the D'ni of the Great Tree, Neighboring Aincrad, Lord Kayneth El Melloi."

A blonde haired, elderly man in blue robes sits with a faint grin on his face. He wears a pair of large D'ni goggles over his eyes.

"Representing the D'ni of Releeshan, Lord Waver El Melloi the Second."

The dark haired man in question sits like a statue, gazing across the table's various reactions. He goes without goggles, notably.

"Finally, representing the Link Weavers of the Great Tree, Madam Links-Through-Branches, accompanied by Translator Reines El Melloi."

A young Blond Haired girl stands up next to the alien creature wearing fancy merchant robes. She looks related to the D'ni man similar from her world. She's wearing a fancy blue dress that matches her eyes, which she lifts the hem of as she curtsys.

"I will translate to the best of my ability," she promises before sitting down.

"And Representing the Bahro of Noloben," Scott motions to a creature not wearing much in the way of anything save for a large necklace around its neck, the pendant stylized after what on Earth you might call a Tiki Hut Mask. "Sir Add, accompanied by Translator, Grey."

The girl by its side could pass for Mordred or Artoria's cousin, except with grey-silver hair. She's wearing a common school uniform, it seems, only with the addition of a heavy grey cloak and hood that makes it hard to see her face.

"With the introductions out of the way, I am Scott Truman, Red Ranger, and I will be your impartial Moderator for the next few days," Scott concludes. "Now then... Commander Yuki, I believe you wanted to begin?"

The other IOA representatives look startled by this turn of course.

It's all about presentation, just like Disclosure, all those years ago. The first one to take to the stage, to throw their enemies off balance, are the ones to come out victorious.

"I did," The orange haired woman stands. "We have called this meeting here today for several reasons, the primary of which is the request of some of Trizza's citizens who have worked with us on Aincrad for some time, to transfer under Atlantis's command. Given current circumstances, we have been unable to approve such a transfer, and today, it is those circumstances we wish to discuss."

She nods to Trizza, who stands.

"So. Yeah, I'm not gonna mince words. Alfheim is *fucked* three ways to Monday," Trizza begins. "See, the bastard I disposed, Oberonn, thinks that he somehow managed to wind up getting everyone caught up in a really nasty curse. While most of the surface level details of it have been easy enough to, well, relieve, by my very presence of taking over the place and managing things differently? It's not solving everything like it should because it isn't actually a curse. How do we know that? Well. To put it simply, when the sword Caliburn was retrieved by Princess Astore to use against her father, the roots of Yggdrasil, the World Tree, that it had severed restored themselves, and began the long process of thawing the cavern beneath Alfheim. At which point, we discovered something horrible."

With a nod to Scott, he triggers a screen projector, sliding from the ceiling, and dimming the lights of the room.

A photograph appears on the projected screen- a heavily damaged version of an Atlantis styled City, laying half frozen inside of a thawing glacier.

"This was discovered in a far, remote corner of the Cavernous underworld below Alfheim," Trizza says. "We checked the data logs as best as we could, and we've found that this City Ship-real name unknown, which we've dubbed Icarus- was involved in an Ancient Experiment regarding temporal and multiversal displacements. It was powered by an unknown power core far beyond anything anyone has ever seen before, or since, and as it turns out, that core has been magically altered by the wizard who cursed King Oberonn for his actions, and set all of Alfheim to suffer from it."

"There are three major facts to be concerned with" Commander Yuki says. "First is the new explanation of why, when leaving Alfheim to other dimensions, Fae are able to regain full use of their unlimited flight time, as well escape the severe limits placed upon their reproduction rate."

"The second..." Trizza grimaces. "Is that as of last month, the ice directly around the power core has begun to thaw, and the people of Alfheim have begun to suffer from rapidly increasing side-effects from the curse. Flight Times were halved from ten minutes to five, and the ability to cast magic at all has begun to falter. Startlingly, Magic Creatures once unaffected by the Curse are now being drastically affected by it, suffering similar after effects. As such, we've begun to suspect that the Curse is not actually a Magic based curse, but rather a peculiar form of Radiation the power core is emitting that's affecting the people of Alfheim."

"And the third is that, according to the accessed part of that City Ship's database, we now know there is deadly bio-agent stored in a lab near to that power core," Commander Yuki continues. "We expect the thawing rate of the Ice to reach that lab within the next two years, and if the data is to be believed, it will have a fatality rate similar to, if not identical to, the Plague which was released upon the D'ni of Earth during the Fall."

"For those unaware," Lord El Melloi the Second chimes in, "unless you were properly wearing a gas mask and protected your skin, the sporulating agent spread far and wide within a matter of hours, and people were dead within minutes to hours of exposure. It was deadly enough to kill even the living creatures and bio-algae atop the lake's surface. It was fortunate that the plague had been contained to within the Cavern thanks to the disruption of the ventilation system and fans. Had it reached the surface, life as we know it may never had survived."

"For all of these reasons, Alfheim has a now very limited shelf life of survive-ability. We've already begun evacuating my people through the Mirror to Aincrad, but it's at best a stop gap measure," Trizza says. "For many reasons."

"One reason is this: Aincrad's dimension reflects the state of this, Corinth City Dimension, and the Dimension it branched from, the dimension which the Atlantis Expedition resides in, before the formation of the Rifts, which allowed the Zillyum particle- or rather, Magic itself- to begin manifesting in these worlds." Commander Yuki says. "Those who have experienced the change over between dimensions of high and non existent saturation levels have likened it akin to suddenly being stripped of all oxygen and become unable to breathe."

"We could begin bringing people over to this dimension or the other through the Quantum Mirrors," Trizza continues. "And that is one such possibility we wish to discuss here today."

"Another reason is as follows," Commander Yuki continues. "The Earth that Aincrad resides on is no longer a safe haven for anyone."

And here, Kayneth El Melloi speaks, "The Goa'uld who have sabotaged the Castle Ships have grown so few in numbers they have recruited the aid of a deadly enemy known as the Aschen."

"Fucking Hell!" came the near simultaneous, identical reply from General O'neill, Mikari Aiikho, John Sheppard, and Jade Jackson.

Representative Mei Fong chimes in then- "The Aschen... Who are these people?"

Sheppard chimes in, "A technologically advanced race of Asshole geneticists who decided it'd be a fantastic idea to commit mass genocide on their 'allies' but force sterilizing them into extinction every couple of generations."

"Thanks to some forewarning with time travel, we blew them up in our dimension by throwing a... very powerful bomb through the Stargate to their home world," Jade Jackson says. "It caused a chain reaction similar to a Naquadria terraforming event that we didn't predict that devastated a lot more of their planet. As far as we know, they never recovered."

"...I see..." Mei Fong swallows.

"The Aschen have begun reaching out to our Earth," Commander Yuki says. "Knowing what we know of their habits across multiple world-lines, and the fact they seem quite interested in the means of traveling to other dimensions, we're cerain that the longer we delay in allowing them access to the Mirror and our ability to visit other worlds, the more likely they are to attack the planet and claim for themselves what they think is theirs."

"And thus, another proposal for sanctuary is being made," Kayneth El Melloi says. "However, we have another option on the table that we would wish to discuss."

"None of this was what we discussed!" Chekov exclaims. "None of us were informed of any of this before hand!"

The Link Weaver, Links-Through-Branches, spoke in barking chitters and gripes, which Reines translated, "You planned to use us for your own ends, and so we allowed you to arrange for this meeting so that we might use you in kind to speak with our potential allies in a neutral setting to discuss every option."

"There is one other thing that we must discuss from our end," El Melloi the Second spoke, and he looks to Grey and the Bahro, Add.

Add begins to speak, and Grey translates.

"Our people, similar to the Link Weavers once upon a time, have been freed from the control of the Mystic Tablet. Like their history, our people have begun to react by choosing sides. Most sympathize with the D'ni of Releeshan, and the people of Earth who now attempt to restore the Cavern to a livable state. However, a few have begun to promote rage and violence forming small groups that have begun to merge and grow larger by the day. The leader of one such a group was tormented by the man called Esher, and had his shoulder skin-" Add motions for his shoulder, and a specific mark upon it- a motion that Grey copies. "-His very ability to Link, taken from him. We believe he will emerge victorious as the united leader of their faction, and he is making headway towards that point. Should he succeed in uniting those groups, he will most likely make a move for violence against others."

Add pauses, giving Grey time to catch her breath. When she nods, he continues and she translates.

"We, the D'ni, and the DRC, have taken to calling them Twisted Ones. The common theme among these groups is that they see the widespread connection of our dimensional cluster to that of another one with its own D'ni, and it's own version of our people, as an abomination against nature." Add pauses, Grey pauses, then continue, nearly as one. "We have done our best in the days since to try to convince them to cease hostilities, even going so far as to reach out to the Link Weavers to see if their history might give us a means to a solution. However..."

Links-Through-Branches speaks then, and Reines Translates, "However, it seems the extra years of enslavement has caused more resentment in the other world. One of our diplomatic envoys was murdered during an attempt at reconciliation with the largest group. However, we managed to gather one important piece of information."

El Melloi the Second nods, and Scott changes to the next slide.

An image of Esher's shoulder mounted linking cloth appears on screen.

"The one who had his skin stolen, seeks its return to his flesh," El Melloi the Second speaks, "We believe that we can lure him and his faction of destruction seekers to Alfheim, using it as bait, and force-thawing the lab with the Bio-Agent within. With your permission, we will make arrangement sto store the vile artifact within the thawing City."

You choose then to speak up. "It sounds like you already have part of a plan in place, then. What do you need from us beyond that permission?"

The other IOA agents send death glares you way.

"Primarily, a sounding board for options, and backing and resources on whichever course of action we choose on today," Commander Yuki says, and with a nod, Scott promotes another slide to the screen.

It's a simple flowchart, showing the flow of refugees from Alfheim to Aincrad, and then through to Earth, Atlantis, Alternia, and Corinth.

"The first option we seek is Evacuation," Trizza says. "This entire side of events is rich in Zillyum, fit for Alfheim relocation. For them, we would consider asking Alternia's representatives if there are any empty planets we might be ablle to settle them on."

Commander Yuki continues, "The people of the Castle Ships, our Neighbors of D'ni, and the Link Weavers as a species would ask that the two versions of Earth consider allowing our people to re-settle on one Earth or another, or baring that, find a world where we can settle on and remain on our own."

"However," Kayneth El Melloi speaks. "We understand that the logistics of such a thing are daunting to consider. And so we would propose a second option."

With a nod, Scott promotes another slide.

This time, blueprints of a Castle Ship appear on screen.

"With the discovery of the Jump Drive technology that has cursed Alfheim," Kayneth speaks, "we believe we may be able to safely replicate it's abilities using a vast number of Zero Point Energy Modules. As such, we are cannibalizing the remains of every surviving and damaged Castle Ship, and have begun the process of constructing a singular whole around the Great Tree we D'ni have grown on the Surface from our once Cavern home."

"With your help and resources, as well as the technological expertise and understanding of your top scientists" Commander Yuki says, "we believe we may be able to complete this project, and create A singular home for all of our people. A thousand times larger than a single Castle Ship, we call this project the Dimension Crossing Castle Ship: Codename, Unwritten Ending."

Everyone remains silent, expecting more.

And then Colonel Truman asks: "...Is there anything else that you would like to discuss around this project before I request that we take a break to... absorb the implications of everything you've just said?"

"Yes, there is one thing," Grey translates for Add, looking to Mikari Aiikho. "Should we proceed down the second route of constructing the Unwritten Ending, we as a group have but one request, and that would be for Mikari Aiikho to oversee the project; manage the communication between all parties; ensure that no uneven leverage from any one party could unbalance the project; And finally... to run and manage day to day operations of what we would hope to be a successful multiverse exploration project."

Mikari lets out a singular, tiny, "Meep."

You're very much inclined to agree.

* * *

 

"Well," your name is Jack O'neill, and you are pretty much stunned silent as the IOA reps finally make their exit, a few minutes after the meeting had dismissed and the other two major groups had already left. _"They came prepared."_

"I'll say," Mikari said, peering over the documents that Waver El Melloi the Second had left for her to read before his group left. "...This thing is going to be nearly 10,000,000 Kilometers in diamter at its base level! That's... How many miles is that?" She looked helplessly to Jade.

"6,213,711 point nine miles," Jade answers almost instantly. "In comparison Aincrad's base of 10,000 Kilometers is only 6,213 point seven miles. It's all about shifting decimal points, really."

"Over Six Million Miles," John whistles sharply. "Doesn't seem that big, really, compared to the distances traveled in a Stargate. But then you remember, the distance between the east and west coast is somewhere between two to three thousand miles. All I've got to ask is how the hell is Aincrad ten-thousant kilometer and twice the length of the USA in length, and they were able to build atleast ten of those things to begin with. Now they're shoving them all together?"

"What's worse is the circumference of the Earth itself," Jade says, "is 24,901 miles. Or  40,075 Kilometers. And the Diameter is 12,756 Kilometers at the Equator, and 12,713.6 Kilometers from the poles! How did we never notice that before?"

"...Jade," you say. "Your past-alternate self went back in time along with Atlantis. You literally shrunk Alternia to the point it exploded! Other You probably made the Earth _*expand*_ to a gigantic size instead, and they mined it for the resources they needed."

"Well, I mean, shit," Jade swears. "Okay. Sure, but even with that. Assuming that their Earth really IS that big and nobody's ever measured it becaues why would they? What's tricky then is the amount of thrust needed to lift it off the planet's surface," Jade says. "There's no way that thing is ever taking off from the ground, even with ten times the amount of Star Drives beneath it." And then she swears. "Fucking hell! The Star Drives! No wonder they needed a freaking electromagnetic dome to keep the things in the air- each one's the quarter of the size of Earth itself!"

"Sounds like your kind of project," John says.

"John, this is so fucking ambitious, how the hell are they even MAKING something like this?" Jade asks.

"I'd, ah," Daniel chimes in, peering over Mikari's shoulder. "I'd say they already thought of that."

"How's that?" Jade asks.

"They're planning on building AND launching their new 'Little' Castle Ship by utterly transforming the entire planet Earth into raw base materials using an series of Alfheim Magic Circles." Mikari exhales in disbelief, reading the line Daniel did. "That's why they need our help with this. They don't have anywhere near enough raw Magic Zillyum at their disposal to make it work."

"...How do they expect us to make it work then?" you ask.

"...They want to replicate Venjix's sabotaged rift teleport that created the bridge between Corinth and our dimension," Daniel stares at the request.

 **"Oh like _*thats*_ not going to backfire any, punching yet another hole in the multiverse. Why the hell not?"** Egeria gripes. **"It's not like that hasn't nearly caused two dimensions to collapse into eachother once already."**

"They either build it, or they evacuate," Mikari says. "...There's no way I can see Corinth City allowing the use of that technology."

 _"...Oh,"_ you wince. "I can see them _approving it_ if they keep the bridge between Alfheim and Aincrad only."

"...They're abandoning that world anyways," Daniel says. "Why wouldn't they use it as a living battery?"

"Maybe the cursed energy leaking out from that dimensional jump drive?" Mikari asks.

"Ah.. That's a good point," Daniel frowns. "...This plan of theirs has a lot of holes in it."

"Not as many as would be enough to make the IOA reject it," Janet speaks up for the first time this entire meeting. "You saw the looks on their faces before and after all of this started. They wanted a chance to have fine control over Atlantis. What better way to do that than shove Mikari across the way onto a project that they could also greatly benefit from?"

"But the Ancients who moved to Aincrad..." Jade frowns. "Wouldn't they object to this?"

"Jade, they're Anicents," John said. "The same kind of people who *built those Castle Ships* in the first place. The same people who built the Stargates, which we all know do *so many things* they clearly weren't intended to do. The same people who Built a device that, if calibrated right, would wipe out all life in the Galaxy. The same people who built Time Loop Machines. The Same people who Genetically Modified the Goa'uld into existence. They made the Wraith. The Asuran Replicators! They're the same people who-"

"We get the idea, John," Jade interjects, sighing. "Fuck. You're right. They're probably the ones who helped come up with this idea to begin with."  
For a few moments, everyone is silent.

Then, Mikari says, "This is going to happen one way or another, isn't it?"

Teal'c, who had also remained silent the entire time up until now, rumbled out an "Indeed." All eyes turn to him, and he says. "The simple elusive fact of the matter is, the Castle Ship speaks of something new. Ambitious. And of relatively low risk to the rest of us.  Meanwhile, the other proposal... Evacuation... Resettlement... It requires much more risk for a relatively low reward. There are more chances for things to be lost, more chances for people who shouldn't be left alone to escape on their own. Arguably it could be considered a devolution of the situation, over an evolution of it, technologically speaking." He pauses, then says, "We would lose ready access to ZPM manufacturing, for example, were every Aincrad abandoned with no means of maintaining ZPM production in the new world they chose to settle on. For that reason alone, they will be seriously considering the alternative proposal."

* * *

 

You are now SCOTT TRUMAN, RPM RED RANGER, and...

"You can't seriously be considering the other proposal, are you, Mayor Collins?"

"Not only am I considering it, Colonel Truman, I'm thinking of having Corinth City join them."

Your father and the Mayor are arguing over the practicality of resettling an irradiated, monster filled wasteland of a planet.

Before it was really the only option... now?

"Having them resettle here is the better option," your father argues. "Their resources, their knowledge..."

"But again, the problem is how to get it here," Mayor Collins counters, shaking her head. "No. Corinth City is the smallest amount of mass that needs to be transported to make it work. With the monsters hounding the City walls, and roaming the wasteland... Not to mention any surprises Venjix has left for us..." She then interjects over your father's attempt at his own interject. "And Let's be honest here. If the Aschen are such a multiversal Constant, Earth is NOT prepared for them. Corinth is not prepared for them."

"And what of the Rift?" Your father asks. "If we leave it unguarded..."

"That is why we run a repeat experiment of Venjix's rift," Mayor Collins says. "We study how it opens, and we find a way to close that bridge between Corinth and the other Dimension." She looks to you. "I Want Doctor K brought in on this to help run the math and Science. Hell. I want Doctor Ohphee, and I want-"

* * *

 

"Doctor Rodney Mckay should have been here by now," You are once again Richard Woolsey. "Where. Is. He?"

"Midway," Chekov says. _"Where. He. Belongs."_

"No, he doesn't," you say. "He should be _**In! That! Room!"**_ You point at the conference room vigorously with each exclamation mark, "-Talking with his fellow Atlantis Expedition Administrators, and not overseeing the finishing touches on the Midway Station that is _***already functioning***_ in the ways that Doctor Mckay is responsible for."

"I don't know what kind of game you're playing, Toolsey-" Mei Fong starts.

 **"Woolsey,"** you correct. _ **"Richard. Woolsey.**_ _That is my name."_

"Fine, Dick," she sneers at you. "I don't know what kind of game you're playing, but China, Russia, and The UK refuse to play it. The three of us were chosen because we were deemed the best bet at regaining total control over the Atlantis Expedition. It never should have fallen into Alien hands in the first place."

**_Well, maybe if your predecessors hadn't forced their wills onto Atlantis causing a disaster that cost us the chance to own a Wraith Cruiser and capture a wanted intergalactic criminal organization, then maybe we wouldn't be in this mess of a political situation to begin with!_ **

...You want to yell that at them, but...

Uh...

...Going by the looks on their faces, though, you did actually just sarcastically say those exact words aloud though.

"I just said that outloud, didn't I?" You ask.

Fortnight just nods his head very, very slowly.

* * *

 

"I think this has gone well," Lord El Melloi the Second sips at his tea. "So far, we've kept them on the back foot."

Commander Yuki scoffs. "For now. Giving them this chance to process is going to give them time to plan counters."

The Second Lord glances at the First Lord, and asks, "Has Links-Through-Branches predicted their counters?"

"She has," Kayneth nods. "Reines is currently helping her figure out which of our counter counters match best."

"Good... Grey?"

"Yes, Sir?" The girl seemed to appear out of the shadows.

"Make a show of sending for Doctor Mckay. We need the IOA to sweat. If they have not sent him by lunch tonight, we will have to insist that any further negotiations cannot happen without his presence."

"Of course, Sir."

And so it was that the girl, Grey, left on foot for the Corinth Rift, passing by people who did not recognize her importance.

She soon passed through the Rift, and made her way through the well worn paths to the Jaffa Planet's Stargate, where she dialed the SGC, and radioed a transmission through to be relayed to Midway, asking, again, for Doctor Rodney Mckay to be summoned to Corinth City for the meeting.

Fifteen minutes later, on Midway Station, the Milky Way Gate activated, and the message was received.

Doctor Mckay glanced at the 'minder' he had been assigned- rather, an IOA thug pretending to be a smiling assistant- who shook his head in a Very Disapproving Way.

"Yeah," Mckay scowled. "I thought so."

* * *

 

You are now John Sheppard, and you look up as the translator for the Bahro, Add, enters the conference room again- this time, alone, and not accompanied by anyone else.

"I have been tasked with informing you that I have requested, again, for Doctor Mckay's presence. Should he fail to arrive by lunch time, we will inform the IOA that further negotiations cannot continue until he is here." the girl, Grey, states.

"Thanks," you say.

She looks everyone over, and then says, "I apologize for the Deception we have performed and continue to perform, but it is necessary to ensure that they do not meddle with our plans. I believe you can understand the necessity for such measures, though."

Mikari nods. "Yes, it's something we're familiar with, unfortunately."

"When we resume the meeting, please inquire about Doctor Mckay's absence," Grey requests.

"We will," you say.

"Thank you," she nods, and then turns to leave.

For a moment, you space out, because you swear she didn't leave through the door.

"...That was... weird, wasn't it?" You ask.

"Very," General O'neill grumbles.

* * *

 

You are now Janet Fraiser, and you take the lead in speaking first as the conference resumes. "I would like to ask, before we begin, where Doctor Rodney Mckay is. He was supposed to be here."

"He is busy on Midway," Fortnight says. "Finishing its construction."

"Funny, that," You say. "Because I've checked. He does not need to be there, Alternia and Altantis and the SGC did not request his presence. It was under your orders that he was sent there. Not ours. And it was under your orders that this entire meeting was brought together. Why is he not here?"

"He is busy," Mei Fong forces through a smile. "On Midway. That is all there is to say on the matter."

"Really?" You frown. "Because I talked with him just before he was dispatched, and I heard that you were threatening him with things that were very much against the Atlantis Expedition Charter."

"Threats were Monroe's wheel house, not ours," Chekov says. "That corruption is behind us."

Jack scoffs at that, but nobody pays him any mind.

"Then there should be no reason for Doctor Mckay to not reply to our summons, then," Lord El Melloi the Second speaks.

"...Summons?" Mei Fong asks.

"We have requested his presence here at this conference," Kayneth El Melloi adds. "If he does not arrive by lunch, we will have to put a hold on negotiations until he arrives."

A ripple runs through the three IOA reps as they hear that. Richard Woolsey just looks relieved.

"Excuse me," Fortnight stands. "I just remembered that I forgot my briefcase in the other room. I will be right back."

And then the UK representative leaves in a hurry.

Huh. You glance at the girl who brought you the message, and she stands, impassively, like a statue, next to the Bahro, Add.

...Well Played.

"While we wait for Mister Fortnight's no doubt speedy return," Colonel Truman speaks up. "I would like to begin by saying that while Corinth's Military has its reservations of allowing Venjix Technology to escape beyond our Planet, should Doctors Mckay, Ohphee, and K agree to work on this project, we are willing to back Mayor Collin's agreement to your plan of creating the 'Unwritten Ending...'"

You glance at everyone else, and see no surprises there.

"...Under one condition," Mayor Collins continues.

Wait. What?

"The City of Corinth, and any other surviving clusters of human population on the surface of the planet, be allowed a chance to joining the population of the Unwritten Ending in the event of its launch," the Mayor says.

That... has a look of surprise running through the room for everyone there... Though, for a certain half of the room, it's less shock that the Mayor would say such a thing, and more of a pleasant, "Oh, so that's the counter offer they went with."

Well... except for the Link Weaver and her translator. They share a similar look of apparent satisfaction, with no surprise at all.

Links-Through-Branches chirps agreeably, and Reines translates in an equally agreeable tone: "We suspected you might ask as much and are open to the idea of allowing immigrants from Corinth who wish to leave the chance at joining our Castle Ship Expedition."

Mister Fortnight returns a few moments later, briefcase in hand, looking quite pale as he sits back down.

"Is everything alright, Mister Fortnight?" You ask. "I am a trained Doctor, if anything is wrong."

"No, no," he shakes his head. "I just... had to run down the hallway. It's quite the sprint."

To the nearest office with a telephone? Likely, yes, it rather is.

"Alright then," Scott Truman claps his hands. "Now that we're all here. Shall we properly resume the talks? Commander Yuki?"

"Very well," Commander Yuki stands. "Now that our main proposal is delivered, we now delve into the topic of the Atlantis Expedition itself..."

* * *

 

You are now Rodney Mckay, and you arrive a good thirty minutes late into the second motion of the three day meeting.

A chair has been helpfully provided to you, and you slip in next to Sheppard and Jade, and whisper. "What'd I miss?"

Sheppard glances at the other end of the table, where Commander Yuki, Mikari, Egeria, and the Chinese IOA Rep  are holding the debate stage hostage with a vicious back and forth. Then, he whisper explains, "China tried wriggling in a provision that meant they got a deciding vote on who gets to actually join the Atlantis Expedition, and Commander Yuki, Mikari, and Egeria are explaining all the ways that's unbalanced not even just in Earth's favor, but China's alone."

"Also," Jade adds, also in a whisper, "they want your expertise lent both in building a dimensional jump drive to transport a six million mile diameter base Castle Ship, as well as creating a controlled Rift punch between Aincrad and Alfheim to get the magic to finish that ship's construction."

"...Okay, I guess I missed a lot then," you say.

"It was a very wild morning," Sheppard quietly slides you a folder. "Take a look."

"Thanks."

You're about to open it, when Sheppard adds, "Welcome back, Rodney."

"Good to be back, John," you nod, and then open the folder.

...Holy shit. What the fuck have you just gotten voluntold into doing this time??

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> HOO. Well! Was THAT an infodump of a chapter. My apologies for the sudden *length* of this chapter just before the end of act. But the words just kept coming! But, it certainly sets the scene, doesn't it? Atlantis is understaffed, and the IOA are clearly trying to play two different schemes at once.
> 
> A few previously unexplained things regarding the Alfheim "curse" have finally gotten a solid reason behind them, and makes the events of the past all the more tragic. It was a curse, alright, but not a magic one that could be broken. Someone a long time ago went to the trouble of convincing Oberonn and Titania they were the reason the curse had been placed... Sounds pretty slimy to me, but you know what? They probably were a seer or something and were rather predicting the future instead of inflicting a curse. Not that anyone took the time to figure that out. Oberonn almost definitely killed the messenger in that case. 
> 
> Did you think the Aschen were just going to go forgotten? :33 Nope. Of *course* they're still around in the Aincrad timeline. Future Silica had to have her reasons for recognizing their tech, after all, and it's not just for time loop reasons. 
> 
> Also, can I just say, I didn't truly appreciate the full SCALE of SAO's Aincrad until writing this chapter and deciding to make something ten times as big. >_>;;;; Some of the numbers thrown around in this chapter are terrifying to think about.
> 
> As for why I lifted Fate characters to serve as D'ni representatives... well. It was either I borrow characters or I invent a bunch of OCs like I did for the IOA reps, or I lift the characters. The IOA reps are sort of cartoonishly evil in their simplicity, where as the D'ni reps have to have a proper sense of grandiose scale to them which felt was best matched in the Fate characters chosen and used here. I'll be sure to properly tag them in on the next act.
> 
> EDIT: Also, Uh. Surprise 10k chapter? XD I didn't realize it was that many words.


	74. SGA:03X20: First Strike (Part 2)

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Part 2/3. And so the Machine did observe the people before him, and he scoffed, thinking that they could ever possibly defeat him and his armies. "The idiots. The fools. Bugs to be swatted and Squashed." 
> 
> And thus did the Machine declare them obsolete, and deserving of death. And he raised his arm and thus did he spread his influence towards them- a sickening gleaming red light falling down from the heavens upon which he sat.
> 
> Doom and Death, he decreed. Doom and Death, for his Kingdom would be of Machines ruling a dead land and a dead land only.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: This is... another long chapter. >_>; Very long. *whoops.*  
> Roughly just shy over 10k words. >_>;;;;

**EARTH DATE: OCTOBER 9TH, 2002.**

  
**DIASPORA DATE: 04/18/0006.**

You are Keiko Ayano, and you're seriously hoping the wild and wacky meeting of Altantis' future comes to a close eary, because, you're not quite sure you can actually handle the administration of an entire city.

Case in point.

"Miss Ayano! Um! Wait, Doctor Ayano? Director? Ma'am??"

Doctor Jennifer Keller comes running up to you as you happen to pass by the Infirmary area. 

"Yes, Doctor Keller?" You ask. "And Keiko's fine. I'm just subbing in temporarily while Mikari's away."

"Oh, well, that's actually what I wanted to talk about," Keller says. "I'm not exactly sure I should be in the position I've been promoted to?"

"That's a decision Doctor Beckett and Doctor Fraiser made," you remind her. "I'm not the right person to talk to about that."

"Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm glad to help out, but... " Keller pauses as you arrive at a Teleporter, and she considers following you as you open it. "But I'm not qualified to run a department of this size during the day shift, especially when both Carson and Janet aren't here!' She follows you into the transporter. "You need someone better than me."

You teleport through to the corridor outside the Gate Room, and both of you exit.

"From what I've heard, you've been doing great filling in so far," you say, choosing which route will be quickest... But with this conversation... hrm. Through the Gate Room, it is.

"Well, A, I'm not entirely sure that's true, and B, it's been, what, a few days? With overall pretty smooth sailing, really," Keller frowns, following you to the Gate Room. "But I think I've just gotten lucky!"

"Janet thinks you have it in you to be on her level," you say. 

"Yeah, but... like... I'm not cut out for this daytime soap opera kinda... Well..." Keller shakes her head. "I just haven't been sleeping well since the change over. And this whole, 'being in control' thing is making me anxious."

"You'll get used to it," you say, making for the stairs to the control room. "After a while, a reasonable sleep schedule just stops being a thing. And after a while, you get better at dealing with the pressure."

Haha. Oh. HAHA. Pot meet Kettle. 

Keller pauses. "Right."

You start heading up the stairs for the control room, having swiftly crossed the distance.

"But, uh, how much time, exactly? Like? Is it easier over the next two weeks and then they replace me so I can go back to being Night Shift or-?"

"I'll keep you posted," you promise.

You hear her sigh. "Gee, thanks."

You head to Mikari's office, where Tyzias and Major Lorne are already waiting.

"Can I please have someone else do these?" Tyzias waves a tablet at you.

"Performance evaluations?" You ask.

"Yes!" 

"No."

"Why not!?" 

"The Year-end reviews are important," you say. "They're how people normally get promotions and raises around here. And ALL of the people who SHOULD be doing those things aren't HERE in the City Right now. So. Yes. You have to do it."

"Look, asking me to do the performance evaluations is ridiculous," Tyzias says. "I didn't hire these people! I can't even remember the faces that go to the names of some of these people!"

Lorne chuckles, and hands you his tablet. "All done, myself." His voice sounds a little congested, but not by much.

You peer at it, moving behind the desk even as Tyzias whines, "Of course you finished early, even with the stupid cold you had!"

Cold?

You frown, peering at the tablet's data.

"...Major Lorne, can I ask you a question."

"Sure thing, Boss Lady," Lorne answers, a little hoarsely. And this time, you're sure it's not the cold.

"...You gave everyone "Excellent" and "Above Average" ratings," you point out.

"Ooh!" Tyzias' eyes light up. "Can I do that?"

"No," you scowl, handing Lorne his tablet right on back to him. "Do it proper this time. You're almost over that cold now, aren't you? That's no excuse to lazy-town through it."

"But everybody that I work with is excellent and above average, why should I lie?" Lorne shrugs, trying to act as much like John Sheppard as he can. "I don't think leaders should lie, Keiko!"

You give him a stern gaze, and then...

All three of you crack up laughing.

"Okay, that was a good John Sheppard impression there." You allow. "Still doesn't mean you can go through and give everyone outstandings. Mikari'll have my head if I don't do this by the book."

"Fair enough," Lorne says. "I figured it was worth a shot."

"Okay, seriously, though," Tyzias says. "Do I still have to do this?" 

"Yes," you start to say when Chuck enters.

"Keiko? The Apollo just came out of Hyperspace." He reports.

You frown, getting up. "They're ahead of schedule."

"Probably just trying to show off," Tyzias follows you out of Mikari's office. "You know, being the new ship and everything."

You arrive in the control room, and radio. "Colonel Ellis, this is Keiko Ayano, temp filling in for MIkari Aiikho.  You've made excellent time on your first voyage to Pegasus."

 _"Thank you, I'm beaming down now,"_ Ellis replies, and before you can say anything-

**_PVVVM-SHING!_ **

Colonel Ellis and four of his staff beam into the control room.

"Set up in the conference room," he orders his team, who depart. Then, he turns to you. "Miss Ayano."

"Colonel, welcome," you say, and you shake hands.

"Thank you," he says, frowning. "I Was under the impression that Atlantis' administrative staff were all going to be here."

"They were called back to Milky Way to deal with some issues with the Atlantis Expedition Charter," you explain. "Some new allies wanted to join in, as far as I'm aware, and that required some renegotiations."

"I see, then, I'll need your acting heads for Colonel Sheppard and Doctor Mckay to join us in the conference room," Colonel Ellis says. "There's an urgent matter we need to brief you all on immediately."

"What's going on?" Tyzias asks.

"I'd prefer we talk in private," Ellis says.

And so, you head to the Conference room... but not without first paging Mallek and Daraya to the conference room.

You need your team in on this.

* * *

 

You are now Daraya Jonjet, and you and Mallek arrive in the conference room, where you take your seats next to Keiko and Tyzias and Major Lorne.

Colonel Ellis seals the room, and he begins. "As you know, ever since the first encounter with the Human Form Replicators of this Galaxy, the Daedalus has made regular reconnaissance fly-bys of their home world. Now, two months ago," he brings up a slide. "It took thee pictures."

"Nothing," Keiko observes.

"Exactly," Ellis moves to a new, more disturbing slide. 

"Ships," Mallek observes.

"Lots and lots of ships," you agree.

"This image was taken on the Daedlus' last exit out of this galaxy," Ellis says. 

"That was last week. Why weren't we made aware of this sooner?" Tyzias asks.

"I'm making you aware of it now," Ellis says, frowning. "Though now I'm suspecting there were ulterior motives involved. The timing of your leadership's absence couldn't be more convenient for if things went wrong."

"Went wrong with that?" Mallek asks.

Ellis steadies his expression. "The plan, as I was informed of it, is that in precisely twelve hours, the Apollo, in consort with your team, will launch a sergical strike on the Replicator Homeworld."

* * *

 

[ **O < \--- STARGATE: ATLANTIS --- >O** ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nJLf_x8kUBU)

* * *

 

"...So," you're still Daraya, and you're still in the conference room. "We're going to blow up their ships?" 

"That's right."

"Just like that?"

"Just like that," Ellis nods.

"How?" You ask.

New slide. Fancy bombs.

"A set of Mark-Nine Naquadria Enhanced Tactical Nukes housed in a custom-made weapons platform, code named 'Horizon.'" Ellis says. 

"Naquadria!?" Tyzias asks, astonished. "Who the fuck authorized Naquadria nukes!? Do we WANT the Replicators to have access to the most volatile explosives in modern history??"

"No, and that's exactly the point," Ellis says. "The Horizon carries six warheads, and four decoys. I know that seems like it's not enough, and I know, the Replicators are self-replicating robots, However, the Asuran Pegasus Replicators are not like the Milky Way or Alternia Replicators. Their ships and structures are not built from nano-cells. Atlantis' survival after you dusted them is proof of that. They construct everything that is not themselves out of real materials that can be destroyed. If there isn't Naquadah on that planet as some of our scans indicated, using multiple Naquadria bombs will not trigger a terraforming event, or give them access to the element afterwards. And if there IS Naquadah on the planet, a Terraforming event will almost assuredly obliterate any further Replicators on the planet not caught in the blast radius."

There's silence for a moment.

Then, you ask, "Why don't we get a Planet Scale Replicator Disruptors to finish them off?" 

"Look, I would have preferred taking them out in a sure-fire manner," Ellis says, "but this image of the ships is giving the IOA a lot of sleepless nights. The Replicators know the location of Earth, and they are building the ships to get there. This mission, as risky as poking a sleeping bear as it is, has strategic value of denying the Replicators military assets. And once the Anti Replicator Weapon that Area 51 is working on is ready, we will blast the remainder of them off of the face of the planet, if there's even a face left to wipe clean." He then looks at Tyzias. "Doctor Entykk, any objections?"

"No, not really, but-"

"Doctor Entykk is ready to beam," Ellis interjects.

**_PVVVM-SHING!_ **

Fucking hell.

"Alright, we're finished here," Ellis says. "I'll give you some time to process." And then, he leaves while his team begins disassembling the stuff they brought with them.

You look to Keiko and Mallek...

"This seems almost too good to be true," Mallek says.

"Agreed," Keiko frowns. "Since we won back the city, the Replicators haven't been doing anything. Not a peep. How do we know that Ellis isn't lying to us or got lied to?"

"If it's real, though," Major Lorne finally says something. "You don't build that many ships to make a run at Atlantis... Doesn't matter who they're targeting... if those ships are there... the Replicators are planning something big and fast."

* * *

 

You are Mallek Adalov, and you approach Colonel Ellis in the Control Room. "Colonel, may I have a word?"

"Sure," he nods.

"How do you know those images are viable intell?" You ask. "Caldwell was reporting to us over everything they scanned on the Daedalus. We didn't hear anything."

He frowns. "Admittedly, I have my concerns as well. But the IOA doesn't think we can wait."

"Then you have to know that an unprovoked first strike could cause them to retaliate..." You shake your head. "And it's exactly the IOA we're worried about here."

"And just what would you have suggested instead?" Ellis asks.

"Ask the Asgard to give us a planet wide disruptor instead of building our own," you say. "Blast the planet entirely at once."

"The IOA refuses to be reliant on-"

"Exactly! They're trying to bull head their way through this!" You say. "They want us to be under their thumbs exclusively. This is an ineffectual first strike at best, intentionally aggravating the Replicators at worst."

"I'm inclined to agree," Ellis says. "But I have my orders, and nobody here on Atlantis is high enough authority to order me to stand down... I feel like we've all been played, but there's only one hand we can play in turn right now that doesn't run the risk of the Replicators attacking everything we hold dear."

You can't really argue with that.

* * *

 

You are now Kanaya Maryam, and you're quite surprised by Teyla Emmagan coming to visit you in the Infirmary.

"Oh, hello, Teyla, what can I do for you?" You ask.

"Just a check to ensure I didn't strain the injury on my back," she says. "I... did some strenuous exercise last night."

You chuckle. "Did you now?" Still, you give her a once over with Shaper, insisting that it check her back only and not do anything else, much as you've done for every other use of the crystal you've done since last week.

What's injured only.

Nothing else.

The Crystal, begrudgingly, seems to be accepting its punishment for going off on delivering a 'lesson' of the kind it did.

"Your back is fine," You report as the crystal gives you the data. "A little muscle strain around your hips, mind, but the stab wound hasn't been exasperated any."

"Thank you," Teyla nods.

"You're welcome," you say, and with that, she heads off.

* * *

 

Twelve hours went by in a blur. Getting in contact with the SGC had been easy enough, but getting a message relayed to Corinth had stalled somewhere along the way. 

And it was punctuated with six blue-bell colored explosions on the Replicator planet's surface.

A cloaked Jumper was left to observe... and no immediate signs of retaliation were seen.

A few hours later, the observing party returned to Atlantis, leaving AR-2 alone with their thoughts.

But, we will return to them in a few moments. 

For now, let us transition briefly back to the Milky Way of another Dimension, home to an Earth ravaged by warfare with a renegade, murderous A.I., and a single, standing beacon of hope...

Corinth City.

* * *

 

"So... Let me get this all straight in my head," you are now Rodney Mckay, and you, and the rest of your Atlantis co-workers are in a small conference room that's not the one that's been used for the rest of the day's events. "Alfheim's Magic Curse is really a faulty Jump Drive leaking radiation, meaning that everything that bastard Oberonn did to try and break the curse was doomed to failure in the first place. Meaning he nearly sacrificed his youngest daughter, and DID kill his eldest daughter, and caused no end of suffering and misery for basically no reason at all?"

Mikari nods.

"Additionally, the leaking core is built inside an Atlantis style city ship that got frozen under miles of ice and is now slowly thawing out, and, because like All Ancients tend to do, they meddle with forces beyond their understanding, they made their own handy dandy version of the Bio-plague that wiped out the D'ni of our Earth?"

Sheppard nods.

"Thus, they want to evacuate Alfheim and use it as a death trap for: One: a small subset of the Bahro that want to kill everyone for mingling dimensions together. And Two: the Aschen of Aincrad's dimension because the Goa'uld got tired of doing things on their own?"

Fraiser nods.

"And That makes Aincrad impossible to settle on for Alfheim's people because of that, AND the fact there's low to nonexistent levels of Zillyum in their dimension, which makes one of their escape plans nigh impossible unless they punch a hole in space-time through to Alfheim so they can use that magic to transform their almost certainly *Impossibly sized* planet Earth with what we might as well call Alchemy Magic into the raw materials needed to fully combine every preexisting Castle Ship on the planet into a Ten Times as big Castle Ship that they can put all of Earth and Alfheim's populations on and then- using a ZPM powered variation of the power core cursing Alfheim- jump to another dimension to escape away from the Aschen of that universe?"

Jade nods at every point along the way.

"And they want Mikari to run the thing, and because Corinth City wants to evacaute their people onto the thing- they're basically going to give away the Venjix Rift Punch technology to make that rift in the first place- and because the IOA wants Mikari to leave Atlantis so she can run the thing, they're all going to approve the idea?"

General O'neill nods.

"And because they want me to help them with their Dimensional Jump Drive idea, they essentially want to trade me for a bunch of Alfheim and Aincrad scientists who already WANT to go to Atlantis that they've been holding back, meanwhile changing nothing in the Atlantis Charter except for the stuff that's required when it comes to adding more people into the system, as well as making a fine and dandy base for which to copy from for their OWN charter for the Dimension Jumping Castle Ship because they know Earth and the other groups already in the Charter are going to want in on it too?"

Egeria nods.

"And ontop of ALL OF THAT! The IOA is playing politics trying to get as much control over the pie as they can, but ONLY for their specific countries because they can't even co-operate THAT much to make it so they all benefit instead of just their singular countries? Am I getting the overall jist of how messed up this entire situation is?"

Teal'c rumbles out an "Indeed, it is quite the mess."

"Okay. So we're all on the same page then," you say. "...Now what the hell do we do about it?"

"We reach back to Atlantis and see what insight Keiko has on the situations back in Alfheim and Aincrad," Mikari says. "See if she picked up hints of any of this during our time before and after the return."

"Alright then," you clap your hands. "That's a lovely start. What does it get us?"

"A whole fat load of nothing we didn't already know," General O'neill says. "I've already chatted with Woolsey during the last break. He doesn't think President Hayes is going to turn it down if he wants another term in office, and honestly, I don't see how we have any grounds to object to any of it except for the fact that the IOA are trying to get their gnarled claws into everything."

"So our real problem here is the IOA causing trouble," Egeria says. "That much is obvious. None of us want them in charge of Atlantis at all. Not to put a patsy in charge, and most certainly not installing one of their own corrupt individuals incharge."

"Agreed," Jade says. "The only IOA rep I'd trust not to fuck us over is Woolsey, but even then..."

"I'd trust him about as far as I could throw him," Sheppard says, smirking. "Admittedly, that's pretty far. But still."

"I was going to say I'd trust him about as much as I'd trust one of Atlantis' Holograms all dressed up as a doctor about to give me an unpleasant exam of my rear end," O'neill remarks.

"My Only reservation about taking over a new assignment," MIkari says, "beyond the whole leaving Atlantis, which I really like living there and what we've been doing, is that I will not leave unless I'm absolutely certain that the person left in charge can handle it. We don't want another repeat of you running the city, Daniel. No offense."

"None taken," he says. "I was horrible at running the City."

"...Okay, so, that's one problem," you say. "But pardon if my own Ego resurfaces for a moment as I ask, What About Me? Because the IOA sure has their own damn ideas of where they want me, and it sure as hell isn't Atlantis, and it damn well isn't Aincrad or where-ever else this project leads us."

"And given the illegal threats to your family," General O'neill glances at Janet when you look confused at how he knows that. "Janet told me. I told Woolsey. He's going to get the President in on it as soon as we get back."

"Oh, good, because I'd nearly forgotten about that part," you say sarcastically. "Honestly, what good is the IOA even for at this point with all the infighting?"

"Not much," Daniel says. "Maybe two dollars and sixteen cents?"

"That's a bit expensive for the IOA, isn't it?" O'neill asks. "No way I'd put them higher than a shave and a hair cut!" He raps his hand on the table twice.

"Okay, so," Sheppard starts. "Our problems are, who is and isn't being reassigned, and who are we putting in their place. Mckay's situation is a bit trickier to deal with because of his family, so we'll shelve that for the moment."

"Gee, thanks," you say, a little bitter.

"You're welcome," Sheppard smiles. "Now. Let's figure out who the hell we can trust to run Atlantis instead of Mikari, and whether or not we can reasonably swing them taking command of the City."

Your name is still Rodney Mckay... hasn't change any since the last time you checked... and you get the feeling this is going to be a very long night.

* * *

 

And now, we return to Atlantis.

* * *

 

"Hey Hey!" you are now RHUBEE XAOLON, and you knock on the open door to Mikari's office with a grin on your face, and your eyes shut closed with glee. "Mikaariiiiiin! I came to play!" 

"MIkari's not here, sorry, Rhubee," Keiko apologizes.

And you open your eyes to see that AR-2 is in Mikari's office instead, settled around the Admin's desk, looking worried and concerned.

"Awwh! That's too bad," You frown. "But hey, guys! Long time no see! What's up?"

"Just discussing the potential backlash that we're going to get from the Replicators in retaliation," Daraya says. "So far we're up to a swarm of laser pointers, from a Terezi vision, and a swarm of giant metal scorpion ships that burrow up from beneath the crust and swim up and drag Atlantis down into the ocean."

"...Yikes," you wince. "Those sound nasty!" But, you grin. "But with me and Karren here! We'll get in the Ruby Lancer and smash them all to pieces before anyone can blink!"

"That might be the problem," Mallek says. "Blowing them up might just lead to worse problems."

"...Diiiidn't you guys blow up all the ships?" You ask. "Also, man, I wish I could've come help with that! But getting the Ruby Lancers sorted in the Jumper Bay took waaaaay longer than me and Karren thought it would."

"We did get all the ships," Tyzias says. "That's the problem. They might retaliate. Maybe not today-"

"Keiko!" And then Chuck comes running in. "Uh Rest of you too! You have to see this, now."

You all follow him out of the office into the control room.

"What's the situation, Chuck?" Tyzias asks.

"Contact out of hyperspace," Chuck answers.

"IFF?" Mallek asks.

"No, Sir," Chuck answers.

"Wraith?" Daraya asks.

"Too small, I doubt it," Chuck says.

"Raise the Shield," Keiko orders immediately.

There's a grinding sound of the shields raising.

Tyzias takes place behind a console, and grimaces. "It's barely larger than a Jumper, but reading lighter than one too... And it's taking up Geo-synch orbit right over the city."

"Get the Apollo out there to check it out," Keiko orders. "We need a visual lock."

After about a minute, Colonel Ellis reports:

 _"It looks like a satellite of some sort..."_ he pauses. _"It's a_ Stargate."

"A what?" You ask.

"I thought you said it was a Satellite?" Daraya asks.

 _"It's both,"_ Ellis answers. _"It's a satellite, but in the middle, there's a Stargate."_

"Why put a Stargate inside of a Satellite?" You ask.

Keiko yells out- suddenly as if realizing something. "Ellis! Shoot it down NOW!"

 _"Targeting the Satell... Wait. It just activated."_ Ellis then yells out in shock. **"GET US AWAY FROM IT!"**

There's a flare of crimson from the night sky above moments later, washing through all the windows.

You go to the nearest window and peer upwards.

There's a solid line of red in the night sky, piercing through the sky. And then...

 _"Atlantis, this is Ellis,"_ you hear. _"The Satellite is turning towards the planet!"_

And then you watch as that beam distorts, going from a line in the sky to a line cutting through the sky into the ocean, and... 

Is it just you or is it getting bigger?

Nope, it's definitely getting bigger and its cutting a line through the ocean, rising steam as it goes, as it comes straight for the-

_OH._

_FUCK!_

The beam hits the City Shield and you hear a horrible crackling sound as it drags across the shield's surface and comes to rest right atop the center of the city's shield.

"It's a sustained beam!" Chuck reports as you dash back to the control room's center.

"This is bad for a dozen different reasons," Tyzias grimaces.

A moment later, Ellis reports, "The Satellite is protected by a shield. Our conventional weaponry did nothing against it. Give me options, Entykk."

"The shield's taking power from the beam," Tyzias says. "I registered a slight drop in beam output when it was fired on, but there's no way we're beaming anything past that shield or bypassing it. The energy output that's pumping through the gate would be enough to power shield emitters indeffinitely if we couldn't pop it by overtaxing them."

"If I got in the chair and fired every drone we had with Ronon super powering them-?" Keiko started.

"It was Slight!" Tyzias says. "Barely point oh-oh-two. I don't think anything short of Hyperbeam is popping it by overtaxing the shield emitters."

"If only the Daedalus were here with a Hyberbeam of our own!" Daraya laments. "OH! WAIT!"

"What do we do then?" Mallek asks.

"I don't know," Tyzias says. "Just, give me five minutes to get my bearings. Then I'll get a briefing going."

* * *

 

And so the Machine did observe the people before him, and he scoffed, thinking of the irony that was them ever thinking they could even possibly defeat his armies.

"The idiots. The fools. Bugs to be swatted and squashed."

And so did the Machine declare them obsolete, and deserving of death for their defiance. And he had raised his arm and speared his outsteteched hand towards them, sending his influence out as a sickening, gleaming red beam of light that fell from the heavens.

Doom and Death, he decreed.

Doom and Death, for his Kingdom would be of Machines ruling countless dead lands, and dead lands only.

No Organics would survive the trials to come.

And so the laser continued to bare down towards Atlantis.

* * *

 

Ellis had taken A Puddle Jumper ferry down into the City, bypassing the shields through the usual means of an Atlantis Registered Jumper being allowed to pass through Atlantis' shields, joining AR-2 in the conference room as you, one TYZIAS ENTYKK, enter.

"We're in trouble," you begin, and continue before anyone can say anything. "The satellite is basically just all the core component parts of a Puddle Jumper taken apart to form a frame around a Stargate. Shields, Sublight Engines, Navigation... The only unique thing about it is an added Hyperdrive.  There's a small power source that was designed to take it to its intended target and power the shield until the gate can be dialed. But once a wormhole has been established, whoever's on the dialing side fires a beam into their Stargate and it comes out on our side, allowing them to fire on us and to power the satellite."

"That's clever," Mallek says, frowning. "And familiar."

"Yeah, SG-1 wound up facing a similar problem with Anubis' super weapon a few years back," you say. "As long as they keep that beam powered and flowing through the Stargate, it's not shutting down. The ONLY difference here is that they're firing at us from above with a *second* Pegasus Stargate which is locking us out of using our Gate to Dial Out. We're lucky they didn't try beaming it through our Gate directly. I'm pretty sure the shield wouldn't have held up any better than the SGC iris did, and probably would've had the nasty side-effect of causing the gate to Explode after."

"So... Replicators, right?" Keiko asks.

"I'd hope so," you say. "Otherwise we just discovered that there's another super-power in Pegasus that we ticked off somehow. Ford? Genii rogues? I don't even care at this point. Given the similarities to the Puddle Jumpers, though. Safe Bet it's the Replicators."

"Otherwise it's a normal Stargate, right?" Keiko asks. "We can talk to them, right?"

"We'd have to boost the signal considerably to get through the interference caused by the laser, but yes," you say.

"Let's get it done," Keiko nods.

"Alright then," you say. "Time to go talk to the people who are trying to kill us!"

* * *

 

Several minutes to half an hour later- you lost track of time- you've gotten it working, and a reply transmission comes through.

Behold, the grim face of the Replicator Councilman OBEROTH, who yeah, now that you're *really* looking at him, definitely reminds you of the photos of that Esher guy you've seen from Joey's mission to D'ni.

"Well," Keiko starts. "I wasn't expecting you to be on the other end of this, Oberoth. But I'm not surprised."

 _"Miss Ayano,"_ Oberoth counters. _"Why would you not be surprised? Surely you'd forgotten that-"_

"Let me guess, each of you exists within a collective and can be replicated ad nauseum until you finally get code wiped?" Keiko counters. "Heard it before. Disable your weapon now."

 _"That is not possible,"_ Oberoth says. _"You have attacked us on many occasions. Luring the Wraith to our home. Starting a war they cannot hope to win. You revived our creators, and we then were forced to kill them because you harbored them in the City once more. Now, you attack our home again with bombs enhanced with Naquadah."_

"We didn't want to do anything," Keiko says. "That mission was not authorized by anyone on Atlantis. It came from over our head. Besides, you were building warships. You honestly can't say you didn't see something like this coming."

 _"Ships to combat the Wraith, and then, to go to your homeworld of Earth and annihilate you, yes,"_ Oberoth says. _"But they were ships to combat the Wraith first and foremost. You say you had no choice? We say the same."_

"Now, see, what I want to know is how you knew the Ancients were here," Keiko says, leaning in towards the camera. "We moved planets. How did you find us?"

 _"A messenger alerted us to your location, as well as provided us the means to edit our source code,"_ Oberoth informs. _"Of course, this also included a copy of the Atlantis Database source code that-"_

You see an alert on screen- Shit, the fucking Replicators are trying to upload a virus!

Hell No you're letting them get away with that!

"Keiko," you say, "They're uploading a Virus through the Coms-"

Keiko snarls at the screen. "Fuck You Oberoth!"

And with that, she slams the button that cuts all communication with them.

"...Well," you lament. "That went well?"

"We need to consider our options," Keiko says. "How long will the shields last?"

You frown. The shield readout's funky. "Give me a few hours. I need to check on a few things."

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: OCTOBER 10TH, 2002.**

**DIASPORA DATE: 04/19/0006.**

You are Argo Lalonde, and you find Keiko pacing angrily in Mikari's office.

"Hey, what's up?" You ask. 

"I thought I gave you the day off," Keiko says, glancing at you.

"I saw the fancy laser beam and came running," you say. "Well, after I dropped Lizzy off with Teyla, first. Stargate ops isn't the best place for a baby, right now."

"Alright," Keiko huffs, ears flattening agianst her skull sadly. "I feel useless here. I'm not cut out for this. I can't see an easy solution for anything. And the worst part is, even if I can get the City through this laser thing? That's not the end of this," She shakes her head, ears jolting backwards in rage, her tail swishes angrily. "The fucking IOA... They made sure to try and pull this off while everyone who runs Atlantis was offworld. It's an undermining tactic plain and simple." And then, she just looks scared. "Mikari was right. She's getting replaced over this."

You swallow. "Give it some time. You'll figure out what to do-"

"That's exactly the problem!" Keiko says. "I shouldn't be the one doing this! Mikari should BE HERE making these decisions! And what's worse is..." 

"What's worse?" You ask.

"We haven't put out a City Wide Alert yet, trying to quell the panic, but... the Linking Books aren't working."

"...What?" you ask.

"Whatever the hell that laser is doing against the shield? It's causing some weird semi-feedback loop on a meta-plane whatever," Keiko shakes her head. "Long and short of it is, their panels are flickering with red static, and the messenger I tried to send to alert Earth couldn't use any of the books. Even Rose's Relto Book isn't working, and that's blatantly Yeesha Magic at its finest! So whatever's going on with the laser is... it's just making Books not work."

"...So we can't even evacuate the city," you swallow again.

"No, we can't," Keiko huffs. "The worst part is, we're sure it's accidental. There's no way the Replicators knew their laser would even do that."

"..." You have no idea what to say to that.

Thankfully, Mallek radios.

"We've got something!"

And you and Keiko return to the control Room.

"We were throwing some ideas back and forth," Mallek says as he, Tyzias, and Zelenka take center stage. "And it suddenly occurred to us. The city has encountered situations like this before, so-!"

"We don't need the history of the idea, Adalov," Ellis remarks, sarcastically. "I'll let that be a surprise when I read the autobiography. Just tell me the plan."

"...We submerge it," Zelenka says, firmly, and out of the blue.

"I'm sorry?" Ellis asks. "Submerge what?"

"The City," Tyzias says. "We submerge the fucking City like the Ancients did, and if we're lucky, the Water being above us buys us at least an extra week of time on the shields, or atleast, stop whatever interference is stopping the Books from working so we can evacuate."

"I thought the City couldn't be submerged again?" Ellis asks.

"That was two years ago before the Anicents came and activated a ton of shit," Keiko realizes. "They unlocked the submersion mechanism?"

"Either that, or the Replicator's repair job on the Star Drives brought it back online," Mallek says with a shrug. "Either way... It should be possible."

"How does submerging us buy us time?" Ellis asks.

"See, the history would've made that part clearer," Tyzias quips. 

Zelenka takes over, "Ten thousand years ago, when the Ancients were under siege from the Wraith, they sank the city in order to dissipate the Wraith's energy blasts in the water. This way, the shield was able to hold far longer than it ever could on the surface. So, now, we submerge the city. The water attenuates the satellite's beam intensity, buys us some more shield time." He pauses. "We cannot predict how much the Replicators' beam will be attenuated. It might not buy us any time at all, though."

"But we're hoping that whatever subspace interference the Laser is causing with the books MIGHT be lessened underneath the ocean," Tyzias says. "And if not, we're fucked. But there's no way to know for sure until we try."

"Alright," Ellis says. "Get it done."

"Not your call, Sir," Tyzias says, putting on her best 'I'm done with your shit' customer service voice, and looking straight at Keiko, before saying. "It's hers."

Keiko blushes from the attention as all eyes turn to her. You give her a thumbs up.

"Alright. Well. What happens with the ZPMs? Worst case? We drain unnecessary power?" She asks.

"Oh, no," Mallek shakes his head. "Worst case is all three of us read the numbers wrong, we drain all our power, and the city doesn't submerge at all."

"...I think it's worth the risk," Keiko says. "Do it."

The trio of scientists return to their stations, Tyzias says, "All right. The city has an automatic submersion sub-routine already in the system. I think I'll need to disable some safety protocols. Give me an hour."

* * *

 

The sun rises.

The beam continues to hit the city's shield.

You are Keiko Ayano, and you return to the control room after a brief hour long nap, and you declare, "It's been an hour."

"I think we're ready?" Tyzias looks to her co-scientists.

Mallek wriggles his right hand up and down- 'so-so'. Zelenka says, "You, have to- to, hit the, ah-"

"Oh! Right!" Tyzias types in a few lines of code, and hits enter. "Now we're ready."

"Put me on city wide," you request. Chuck does so a second later, and with the announcement chime, you begin. "Attention, Atlantis. This is Keiko Ayano, we're about to try to submerge the city to get away from the freaking Death Laser. So! It's gonna get a little bumpy. Secure everything that isn't already secure and get seated in the designated safe areas."

And with that, you nod, and the broadcast is closed.

"Well, full circle, huh?" Tyzias remarks.

"Yeah, feels that way," you agree. "Take us down."

And thus, the city begins to rumble with a few key commands.

You head out to the balcony, and watch as the water begins to rise over the city's shields... Or rather, the City sinks beneath the surface. It's like watching a wall of solid water spiral past as it climbs higher, higher higher....

And then the sunlight cuts out as the water closes over the dome, and the City continues to submerge, and sink, and DESCEND...

And then, with a shudder, you stop moving.

You peer upwards....

The Laser seems unaffected.

You head inside to the control room.

"Tyzias, Mallek, Radek, Status?" You ask.

"The beam is punching through the water with much more efficency than we predicted," Zelenka reports.

"So, plan A's sunk," you joke. "What about Plan B?"

Mallek radios, "Daraya, status?"

A moment later, "Books are still inoperable," Daraya answers.

"And there goes Plan B, too," you grimace. "How much time did we get?"

"Considering the plan took us three hours to plan and execute?" Tyzias glances at her watch, does some mental math. "We bought ourselves an additional ten hours."

"Nine," Zelenka corrects.

"Right, nine, whatever," Tyzias groans. "I'm tired."

"Okay, what's plan C?" you ask.

"...We don't have one yet," Mallek answers.

* * *

 

You, Daraya, and Teyla rest on the Atlantis Balcony, peering upwards at the laser striking the shield.

You are RONON DEX, and you feel extremely like... "I need to learn some science."

"What for?" Daraya asks.

You explain: "I'm not all that useful in situations like these. If we get into a fight or need to break out of somewhere you know, kill someone, I'm your man. But a laser attacking the city's shield…I don't know where to chip in."

"Well," Teyla says, "I believe that's why we are formed into teams with different positions. A commander, a warrior, a scientist, a negotiator."

"Sometimes a few roles get shared though," Daraya muses. "Mallek, Tyzi, and Keiko are all sciency types. Just... different areas of expertise."

"Yeah, exactly," you say. "I need to learn some science. And, it's not just this that's got me thinking that."

"What else brought this on?" Teyla asks.

"Did you know Doctor Freeman destresses by going to the firing range?" you ask.

"I did not," Teyla shakes her head. 

"He's a Scientist, right? But he's been through so many military experiences that he might as well have a minor rank," you say. "Might even be a Specialist back on Sateda, if he really pushed himself."

"Well," Daraya claps a hand on your shoulder. "Just don't go picking up Freeman's branch of theoretical physics when you go leveling up. We really don't want you getting poached for Dimensional Rift Shenanigans or whatever the hell it is that took Mckay away from us right before all of this happened."

"He comes back, I might ask him to teach me some things," you say.

"Hopefully," Teyla says, "they will all have a city to come back to."

* * *

 

"If we survive this, I'm putting in for a transfer," Zelenka grumbles. 

"Please," you are Tyzias Entykk, "we both know you've done your best work here in Atlantis."

"Aren't you a department head, too?" Mallek asks.

...And the three of you are just staring tiredly at the Shield Output readouts. They're draining much faster than they should. It's only as if the City's drawing from one ZPM instead of all three. 

It doesn't make sense.

"Yes, I am," Zelenka says. "And if Rodney were here he'd say my Department's a joke. Well, the old Rodney anyways. Maybe the new Rodney. He's gotten somewhat nicer, atleast."

You sigh. "Yeah."

"I just can't see a way out of this," Zelenka continues. "Every possible scenario ends in failure. There Is Nowhere on this moon we can hide where that thing cannot get us. Even moving to the other moon or planet leaves us in range of it."

A gear clicks within your brain.

"Hey." you look to Mallek. "You don't think the damage we gave the City when we took it back would...?"

"The Replicators did fix most of it, to the point we can't tell if there's anything they missed," Mallek's eyes widen.

Zelenka gasps. "Oh! I see. But what of the power requirements? With the rate of energy we're draining from the ZPMs..."

"That Drilling Platform, didn't it have some Energized Protodermis in a holding tank?" You ask. "What if we connected the umbilical cable to it and powered the City with it?"

"It might be enough energy to power the City in addition to the ZPMs, but there's no way we could take it with us," Zelenka says. "But... we don't have to take it with us. We just need a boost."

"Okay, but we need to prepare incase it's not enough energy," you say. "If we can't take off because of the strain on the shields, what if we take that strain off for a few moments?"

"We'd need more about a minute," Mallek says. "But... I take it you have an idea?"

You grin, and a few minutes later, you three are briefing Keiko and Colonel Ellis once more.

"The shattering event that broke this planet up into a wrecked planet and two moons also spread out a dust ring around the planet, made up of chunks of rocks and debris that were flung away from the event," Mallek begins. "Keiko noticed the other day that an asteroid storm had disturbed them, so we were running scans on the rings in the background just out of idle curiosity, and..."

You bring up an image of a rather large chunk of rock. "This here is a little beauty I'd like to call 'C04-5H17D,' Or, Covering Our Atlantis Shield. And it's juuuust long enough and girthy enough of a fragment that if we have a flight of F-302s guiding it into the lasers path, we fuck up the beam's transmission, giving Atlantis the all clear to take off without strain on the shields."

"You want to bring an asteroid towards us?" Ellis asks. "Is that wise?"

"Today, it is," Zelenka nods.

Keiko looks to Ellis, "This time it's your call, Colonel. But personally, I'm all for it."

* * *

 

And thus, Major Lorne's flight of F-302s strapped onto the asteroid chunk in question, which humorously was a fairly long and thick looking chunk of rock. The flight of 302s began dragging it towards the laser's path.

Given its vaguely phallic profile, Argo was sure their dear dad Davis would approve of this rather symbolic measure. They chuckled, and mused, "Flying Rock Dildo to fuck up a laser. Why not?" 

Why not fling it directly at the laser itself and let gravity carry it away? The Satellite was predicted to recover much quicker.

And so, Keiko asked, "Is it working?"

"It's slow going," Tyzias answered, "but we should get it here before the cut-off time."

"Alright then," Keiko nods. "Time to tell the people. City Wide, if you'd please, Chuck!"

All across Atlantis, eyes looked up towards the nearest speaker as Keiko spoke.

"May I have your attention, please! As you all know, we've found ourselves stuck between a planet and a very mean laser. There's nowhere in this system the satellite can't track us, and frankly, that's just not our style either. Doctors Entykk, Adalov, and Zelenka have come up with a plan to, ah, really, fuck with the Replicators. Heh. When the laser gets stalled, we're going to fire up the City's Stardrive and head into space once again." She paused. "Now, I know the last time we did this, Atlantis was mostly evacuated for safety. We don't have that luxury right now. We can't dial out, and our Linking books are disabled due to interference with the laser's subspace output. So... Make sure everything is secured, and you are all in designated safe areas. This is going to be an even bumpier ride than the last one."

* * *

 

There's a knock at the office door, and you, once again Keiko Ayano, look up. 

"May I come in?" Colonel Ellis asks.

"Of course," you nod.

"All non-essential personnel that we could fit onboard have been taken to the Apollo," he reports. "It's still barely a fraction of the entire city's population, though."

"Good, and yeah, unfortunate, that, isn't it?" You shake your head. 

"Have you chosen your new home yet?" Ellis asks.

"We're considering Lantea again," you say, "but for the moment, it's just a stop gap holdover destination. We're not sure the ZPMs will hold out for a longer trip."

"Ah, understandable," Ellis says. "...Listen, I know you don't like me very much-"

"Colonel," you raise your hand. "Look. I don't have any problems with you. You've been following orders, and used as a pawn by the IOA just like the rest of us. Should we not have fired on the Replicators? Probably. But we did. We've got to deal with it."

"Even so, if I've crossed a line with regards to your given command, temporary or not, I apologize," Ellis says. "I'm used to being the one making the calls. I don't want any of you to think I don't respect the command structures built up here."

"Thank you," you say. "I just wish the IOA saw it the same way."

"Don't we all?" He smiles, and gives a nod.  "I'll be going now. Good luck, Miss Ayano. We'll see you at Lantea."

"Ah, Colonel," you start, before he leaves. "One thing. If we don't arrive at the predicted time, go to the nearest Stargate, and send someone to Midway to reach out to Alternia. Have them try to have someone link through to Atlantis."

"Very well," he nods, and leaves.

You can't help but feel like something bad is about to happen.

...You consider your options carefully.

* * *

 

"As much as I appreciate the confidence in my abilities," Jimmyy O'neill shakes his head. "I am NOT Flying this City."

"Why not?" You ask.

"Call it a sense of self preservation," Jimmyy answers. "Or, maybe a sense of scale? I Can handle a Jumper, or firing off the City's drones, but... Flying this thing? No. Just. Wow. No! That's the kind of thing I used to do when I was older and didn't have a voice in the back of my head telling me when ideas were stupid or not. Also, Carter and Jolinar are helping get everything working. I'm doing my duty as the double boyfriend x2 combo and playing bodyguard incase something goes wrong and she needs an escort. Also also, my powers are supersized and wild plant growth. I'd REALLY not like to accidentally trigger that while trying to launch a massive city."

"...Alright," you nod. "I'll find someone else."

* * *

 

Ten hours almost passed, and you could not find anyone else willing to sit in the danged chair and fly the city.

"Keiko, are you sure about this?" Argo asks as you peer at the City's chair.

"Thematically, it makes the most sense," you say. "John made it work because he's got the breeze at his every whim. Everyone else is either busy with everything else, is scared shitless of touching the thing, or can barely fly a Jumper worth shit. Even Beckett's not here to give it a try." You extend your fae wings. "I've got these. I'm the only Fae in the City right now with the ATA gene. Thematically. I can Fly. Thematically... I'm in charge of the city right now anyways. Thematically-"

"But what about personally?" Argo asks.

"Okay, I'll admit, I'm scared," you say, dismissing your wings again. "The last time I was anywhere near one of these chairs when it was being used to pilot something was when Aincrad was fucking crashing into the planet below. Kazuto managed to pull off a perfect landing in the ocean without too much damage to the Castle." You breath sharply, and exhale slowly. "But Atlantis is tiny in comparison. This shouldn't be hard. And besides... I'm the only one who's willing to touch it."

Argo nods. "Okay. I'll handle the control room in the mean time."

"Good luck," you say.

"You too," Argo nods, and then turns to leave.

* * *

 

"Alright, Zelenka is doing a final pass over the coding we've done," You're Mallek Adalov, and you and Tyzias hurry down some corridors. "The drilling platform's been connected to us via a cable umbilical, and we've got it's Energized Prototdermis container ready to feed us power. The crew down there's been beamed out to the Apollo."

"We're going to wreck that thing," Tyzias observes.

"The drilling platform?" You ask. "Given the unstable nature of the element in question? Yes. Hell yes. Hell Fucking Yes. That place is going to explode when we disconnect the umbilical. But, ah, 30% of our total power consumption is going to be in the first ten seconds of the liftoff right up until that disconnect. Then, we're switching over to ZPM and if we've timed it right and the satellite is blocked, we should be able to squeeze out enough juice from the remaining ZPM power supply."

"We're still going to have to figure out what the fuck is wrong with the energy drainage," Tyzias says. "After we survive this. There's no reason three ZPMS should be draining as fast as one ZPM is."

"It's probably a severed power line somewhere," you shake your head. "We're tracing it down now, but, it's hard to tell whether we're actually chasing down a drain or if the laser is just THAT taxing on the shields. We'll know for sure once we're out of its grasp."

"How's Lorne doing?" she asks, as you round the corner to the control room.

"He's making good time," you answer, checking your tablet. "Should be here in the next fifteen minutes. Ahead of schedule, actually. Good."

"Good," Tyzias laughs. "I guess it's show time then."

"Yeah," you say, "I guess it is."

* * *

 

You are now Rose Lalonde, and you stand next to Argo and Kanaya as you stare out the window at the top of the Gate room stairwell. 

"So... this is it." Argo muses. "Taking flight once again. This time I'm here to see it with my own eyes."

"It's certainly quite the experience," Kanaya says.  

"Indeed it is," you smile. "Shame John isn't here to help make it happen again."

"Oh, he's going to be so jealous he didn't get to do it again," Argo nods, enthusiastically. "But... I think he'll just be glad if we all make it out of this alive." Then, their watch beeps, and they sigh. "Welp. Time to go act like Mikari for a bit. Wish me luck!"

"Good luck," you and Kanaya Wish within a few seconds of each other.

"Thanks," Argo zips up to the control room with a flash in their steps, and you and Kanaya turn back towards the window.

"...You ever wonder what it'd be like if we just took out this whole window, sometimes?" You ask.

"What?" Kanaya asks. "No. Why would we do that? We need the wall sealed so the city doesn't vent atmosphere."

"I mean, John *broke* it by flying a Jumper through it," you say. "I wish I could have seen what it was like. No window here at all."

"...The thought makes me feel ill at ease," Kanaya says. "Anything that makes this window disappear is liable to be something very explosive. I don't like it."

"...Fair enough," you allow. "Sorry for making you worry."

* * *

 

You are Daraya Jonjet, and you, Teyla, and Ronon stand in the control room as Argo comes running up the stairs to join you.

 _"Tyzias, can you read me?"_ Lorne radios.

Tyzias grabs the radio, "Loud and clear. Lorne, you in position yet?"

 _"We're getting close, are you about ready?"_ Lorne asks.

"Zelenka, go or no go?" Tyzias asks.

_"We're go. All non-essential systems are shut down."_

"Keiko, are you ready?" Tyzias asks.

 _"Ready as I'll ever be,"_ Keiko answers.

"Okay, Lorne, you're good. Make sure the dick's moving as slow as possible into the beam," Tyzias answers.

 _"I still say we oughta lob this sucker right down the hole and dislodge the stargate from behind,"_ Lorne gripes.

"That'd do more to knock it out of position which it could get back into because of the shield," Tyzias counters. "This is our best bet."

 _"Copy that,"_ Lorne answers. 

There's a pause, and you watch as the digital representation of the large stone dildo moves into position to block the beam.

 _"'Package' is away and on course,"_ Lorne chuckles. _"We're heading back to the Apollo. Good luck."_

"Alright, calculating travel time based on speed..." Tyzias smiles. "We're good. Here goes everything. Keiko. LAUNCH."

The city begins to rumble- a familiar shaking from the first day here in the city.... everyone secures themselves by grabbing onto something.

You give Tyzias a smile when she glances at you for a moment.

You turn your gaze towards two monitors- one showing Keiko in the Chair, eyes closed, focusing tightly, nearby, Mallek and Zelenka sit, watching readouts with nervous attention- the other showing an upwards view from the Jumper Bay roof, with the laser striking the shield dead center on.

Then-

"C04-SHIELD is entering the beam!" Tyzias reports.

-The beam cuts out in that feed, and the city bursts through the surface layer of the ocean.

"We're on the surface, Keiko, fire the Star Drive," Tyzias calls out.

There's a jolt, and the city begins to continue upwards as a familiar rumbling noise fills the air.

You're lifting... lifting...

"We're not flying high enough," Tyzias reports. "We're stalling!"

 _"It's not working!"_ Keiko's eyes snap open on the feed. 

"What are you doing wrong?" Tyzias asks.

 _"Sure, blame me, we don't have the power!"_ Keiko answers.

"Well blame me then!?" Tyzias snaps.

 _"It's not working! What other reasons are-!?"_ Keiko and Tyzias then both blink, and yell- **"The Shield!"** Then, _"Lower it,"_ Keiko orders. _"Just for as long as need to get higher, then re-activate them at 18,000 feet!"_

"Got it!" Tyzias shuts the city shield down. "Shields down! Get us going!"

Keiko closes her eyes again, and the city jolts, faster, moving faster and faster.

Ronon moves over towards the window at the top of the stairs.

Then... the rumbling smooths out.

"That's it, we're flying!" Tyzias calls out. A few moments later, an alarm buzzes. "And That's Time! Raising Shield."

You hear the grinding noise of the shield raising...

And then suddenly there's an explosion of red from that wall where the window is, wind bursts past you, hot and freshly heated that---

The console you were gripping onto explodes suddenly, and you know darkness.

* * *

 

The shields confirm being raised fully, and you drag Atlantis clear of the Satellite, and back towards the direction of Lantea...

"We're going into Hyperspace," you are Keiko Ayano, and you open the Hyperspace window. And.... Confirmation you're safe.

You exhale, sitting up in the chair, and open your eyes. "We did it." You look to the rest of the room.

Zelenka smiles, Mallek exhales in relief.

"Tyizas, what's our status?" You ask.

Silence. 

Then.

 _ **"I Need a medical team to the Control room, STAT!"**_ Chuck's panicked voice cuts through the air. _**"Multiple Injuries!!"**_

You and Mallek are running before you even realize it.

You arrive in the Gate Room, finding Keller and the meidcal team loading people onto stretchers, and hurrying them off to the infirmay.

Two faces catch your attention.

Rose Lalonde and Kanaya Maryam are in differing states of medical need. Rose's face and arms are all scratched to hell with glass, but she's otherwise looking fine despite the horror etched on her face.

Kanaya is bleeding jade green everywhere as she's being loaded up. 

"Keller, What happened?" You ask.

"The beam grazed the tower and blew out the-" Keller stops, then snaps. "ADAMS! That guy has a cut! Just tell him to put pressure on it and move on! There are worse upstairs!"

"Kanaya?" You glance at the Alternian girl. 

"I don't know," Keller shakes her head. "She got blasted down the stairs, her pupils are sluggish, Shapper is practically fragmented into her collarbones, and I won't know more until I get her under a scanner."

You wave her to move, on, and you give Rose a reassuring smile, even as she's getting several small glass shards pulled out of her face, and then rush up into the control room.

You find Ronon with a huge piece of glass sticking out of his right shoulder.

Mallek goes to check on him, and you move onto the rest of your team.

"Tyzias! What-?" You find Tyzias holding a crying Daraya against her while she checks on a barely working console. Daraya's got her hands up against her eyes.

"No, we're not alright!" Tyzias snaps. "The beam grazed the side of the tower before the shield went completely up. I think the city itself took minmal damage but-!"

"I can't see!" Daraya exclaims. "I can't! I can't see!!"

That's when you notice some twinges of jade green blood streaking past her hands.

Shit.

This is all your fault. If you'd done things differently, ordered the shield off sooner to...

No! Not the time, Keiko Ayano! NOT THE TIME!

"Why isn't-?" you go to ask. Why isn't she going to the infirmary? But, then a klaxon alarm sounds.

"Oh What NOW!?" Tyzias yells out as the city rumbles, lights flicker, and---

There's a sudden jolt of motion as you drop out of Hyperspace.

"...We dropped out?" You ask. "Why??"

"I don't know," Tyzias taps at a console. "...We should be hours out... Shit. The Hyperdrive just went down."

"Why?" You ask.

"I don't know!" Tyzias glares at you, tears brimming in her eyes. "I can't get it back up until I know what happened! Just- Fuck! Give me time!"

"Where are we?" Teyla asks, suddenly interjecting into a volatile moment.

"The Middle of Fucking Nowhere!" Tyzias answers. "There's no planets, no moons, no Stargates! We're LOST! NOW SOMEONE GET DARAYA A MEDIC!!!"

Doctor Cole comes rushing over, and Tyzias hands the crying, and possibly blinded Daraya over to her, before trying to desperately focus herself.

"How much power do we have left?" You ask, once she's composed herself.

"One second..." Tyzias checks... "...Nononono. This can't be right."

"What is it?" You ask.

"At current rate of consumption, we've got 24 hours left. After that, no power at all. No shield, no atmo. No atmo... Nothing."

"Can we use the Stargate?" Teyla asks.

"In order to dial we'd need to know our coordiantes in space-time, which we don't because we dropped out of hyperspace way too soon!" Tyzias answers, taking a sharp, deep breath. "I have no fucking idea where the hell we are."

You glance out over the wrecked control room, and try not to panic.

You're incharge, Keiko. You're in charge. You can't panic.

Not just yet...

And despite that, you can't help but feel like... Like this is all your fault.

**TO BE CONTINUED.**

* * *

 

**END OF ACT SIX ACT THREE.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> One more chapter for this act, and I think I won't be taking a week's break before starting the next one like I thought I might. Which means we'll be going right back into it next monday, probably. I got a bit on a roll with writing and got ahead of the game.
> 
> So... Yeah. That chapter was mostly a re-write of the original Atlantis episode ending this season, but there's a bunch of shakeups here and there. 
> 
> See you all again tomorrow for the final chapter this act.


	75. ALT:10x07: What If: Epilogues.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> If you haven't read the Homestuck Epilogues by now, or just don't care to, you are free and clear to skip this chapter, as it wraps up those missing plot threads that have been left dangling from the brief crossovers that have happened so far.
> 
> If you have read them, you might like what happens this chapter. Or not.

The moment a rift in space time opened, everyone felt a sudden change in pressure. It was an odd sensation, given that they were in a bubble of breathable air in high orbit above a planet ready to be seeded with SBURB... But it was a noticeable change never the less.

The battle between Dirk, his Robot Rose, and solemn, silent Terezi versus the heroes who ostensibly had come to kill him paused.

The Calliope who possessed a dead Jade's body stopped trying to strangle Dirk in that moment, her head snapping towards the rift, and snarling dramatically, _"...What the fuck is **that**?"_

A Dave Strider, a Davebot, a very not possessed Jade Harley, and Aradia Megido all turned to look at the oddity- the aberration- that was the rift in space time that had opened before them.

The Calliope abandoned Dirk in that instant, and began accelerating towards the rift.

Karkat Vantas stared at the rapidly spiraling void of silver energy on the other side, and blinked his eyes. "Is it just me, or is that Fucking Damara Megido on the other side!?"

Jake English, Roxy Lalonde, and Kanaya Maryam all stared at it as well.

"Oh fuck, that is Damara!" Roxy exclaimed, hands going to his cheeks in shock. "How is she alive!?"

Dirk glanced at the portal, and he whispered something that nobody except Jade could hear thanks to her ears.

It boiled down to "On your Left."

Damara turned as the Corpse Stealing Calliope approached the rift.

Calliope's mouth moved, angry, incensed, but they were not directed into this particular narrative, oh, no, definitely not.

They were directed at the other side.

She crossed the borderline of the rift- and then, it suddenly closed behind her.

That's when they all felt another change in pressure, and none felt it moreso than Dirk Strider, especially as the Terezi at his side suddenly vanished in a FLICKER FLASH of blue Retconning light.

 _ **"NO!"** _Dirk yelled- and suddenly, His voice was not inside their heads as he controlled the narrative as he had done before.

Infact, in that moment the rift had closed, it was as if something else had slipped its tendrils through and taken control away from him like a parent taking away something a child should not be playing with.

**_"NO! HOW!? YOU CAN'T DO THAT! HE'S SUPPOSED TO BE--!"_ **

And then with that same flicker flash- the planet below them, its moon, the very sun it orbited, and every other planet in the system suddenly flicker flashed blue as they ZAPped away, plungning everything into darkness.

Then, there was a spark of blue light.

Then another, and another, and another, and another-

Nine of them in total, forming a ring, distantly, where the star had used to be.

Those nine points of light then began arcing electricity between them, creating a visual distortion that none of them recognized at first...

None of them except for Jake English.

"Gadzooks! Is that a-"

A moment later- there was a flicker flash ZAP as the electricity and light solidified into an Alternian Galaxy styled Supergate, its glowing chevrons being the only thing casting light in the black void of space.

They didn't realize at first just how far away it was due to the size and perspective, just yet.

And then.

**WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.**

**WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.**

_**KAWOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!** _

The unstable vortex of the eventhorizon burst towards them at speed, accelerating accelerating...

And then slowing to a halt no more than a mere five thousand, two hundred and eighty feet away from them, before collapsing backwards and forming into a standing wall of water.

"...A gi-Giant Sized Stargate??" Jake finished quietly, swallowing his uncertainties and fears at the sight.

The blue-silver light of the eventhorizon had everyone dazed, staring at it with awe and horror, wondering just what the ever loving fuck the Corpse Stealing Calliope had done when she'd stepped through that rift.

Nobody dared move.

And then something began to emerge from the Supergate- something large, mechanical, and massive, that much was obvious as the thing emerged sideways- no, not sideways. Their angle of perspective had changed when the planet had vanished, and the Supergate had appeared.

What had once been to their right was now directly beneath them, and appropriately, the gravity of the Supergate's existence began pulling them down towards it, even as the monstrosity of a machine arose from its silver-watery depths.

[A drum beat and chanting ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aYz93cig4wE)could be heard in the impossibly present air as Golden Horns and a small, metal face with glowing green eyes appeared.

Followed by Massive shoulders of white, black, and purple.

A chest of black and silver with a glowing red M on its chest.

Twin arms of train themed design, except with dinosaur heads for hands.

And finally, Hefty, bulky armored legs, with massive feet equipped with Gatling guns.

The thing struck a pose, and a mechanical roaring sound could be heard as it then reached onto its back, and pulled loose a massive cannon of white and purple and gold, shaped after the appearance of a plesiosaurus.

The mouth opened, and an awe inspiring blue light built up to glow within its mouth- shining an even brighter spotlight upon those who had just been fighting up to mere moments ago.

Drik Strider realized in a heart beat that it was pointed directly at him, rather than the others.

He went to run- but a flicker flash ZAP and swirling particles, and a massive spaceship floated infront of him. Scripted in Alternian Font across its nose was the text "BC304-BELTUS."

Its various cannon and weapon ports glowed bright orange...

Dirk whirled around to run another direction- but flicker flash ZAP plus more particles, and a knight in gold and crimson armor appeared, holding the glowing sword Excaliber raised above his head, ready to strike down with a glowing beam of ultimate death.

Dirk went another direction- and yet again, Flicker Flash Zap, there stood an Alternian Girl with glowing wings, surrounded by a swarm of large insects he did not recognize.

All of them had glowing eyes of red and blue light- Sollux type Psiioniics ready to be let loose at a moments notice.

Dirk looked around, considering his other avenues for escape- but there were none. With each direction he checked, there was another flicker flash of zapping retconning light, and suddenly spectral figures in SBURB'S God Tier Robes began appearing all over.

A Rogue of Time- a Knight of Time- a Witch of Space- a Witch of Void- a Seer of Light- a Knight of Blood- a Maid of Space, a Knight of Heart, and a-  a...

A Fucking Prince of Heart.

An echo of some Alternate version of Drik Strider stood before him, face hidden behind a flickering mask of electric pink and red flares, but the black shades, pointed, and angled, made it abundantly clear who was there.

Dirk checked the others- and he could pin the Knight of Time as a Dave alternate, the Witch of Space a Jade alternate, the Witch of Void and Seer of Light were both Rose Lalondes, the Knight of Blood was assuredly a Karkat alternate, and... The Rogue of Time and Knight of Heart were clearly two alternate versions of that one Squared Sprite consisting of Davesprite and Nepeta- both of them had the glowing orange wings and neon green hair.

But who the hell the others were? Dirk squinted. The Knight with Excaliber was anachronistically out of place. Excaliber was unmistakable as an Arthurian artifact, but... What the fuck? Who was this masked Knight?

No, more importantly, who was this Alternian woman with the swarms of giant lobster wasp beetles? More to the point, why was she not clad in SBURB regalia, and why was she smirking at him. The Mint Green Starburst over a pyramid icon on her chest was unfamiliar in its totality.

The Maid of Space was unfamiliar, but she seemed to be younger than the rest. Only a teenager in comparison.

Then there was the BATTLE CRUISER and the FUCKING ULTRAZORD with weapons hot pointed at him.

"Rose??" Dirk began, having been completely caught off guard by all of this. "What the fuck is this shit??"

The Rosebot considered her answer, and then carefully replied, "I believe the correct term would be Noble Phantasms."

Dirk's mind ground to a halt.

Noble Phantasms?? Like... Like... Throne of Heroes and all kinds of bullshit from that- that- That fucking Anime and Visual Novel series?

Suddenly, the knight with Excaliber seemed familiar, and yet off. A Saber Class Servant? But since when did King Arthur wear red and gold? And for that matter, wasn't the King Arthur of that entirely fictional universe a girl, to boot?

There was no way any of this was real. It couldn't be real. These had to be illusions, not really the Ultimate Self manifestations of these people given some kind of mystical form. Right?? RIGHT????

But...

Dirk could sense the power.

He could sense the utter killing intent leveled his way with a singular promise of "don't try anything rash now, Dirk."

As much as Dirk tried to deny the fact that these were real- that this was really happening and wasn't just a bad dream- he realized that this was very much real.

The Narrative Control he'd wrestled with Calliope over for so long had been yanked out of both of their hands. What the fuck had she done when she stepped through that rift?

No, the presence of Damara Megido wrestling control over her own narrative was one thing. Calliope biting off more than she could chew going after her was one thing but THIS??

No! NO! He'd avoided touching that damned rift! He didn't change anything! He'd AVOIDED changing things and meddling beyond warning the young Damara that Calliope was heading her way! There was no way that his actions could have brought this down upon himself! It was impossible! It was utterly impossible unless...

Unless Calliope had won and this was her doing?

But no, if this were her doing, she'd have returned the instant she left to continue her fight with him, and for that matter... Dirk could utterly sense that she was no longer a concern. Her narrative controls had been revoked just as much as his own had been the moment that rift had closed.

...Shit. The realization hit him almost instantly.

Calliope had wandered into the domain of another Narrator, one who had already been usurped by Damara's shenanigans inside that rift. And the infighting between Calliope and Damara had... had...

It could be the only explanation.

They had drawn that other Narrator's attention onto his domain and they were taking the control away from him.

"N...Noble Phantasms!? What the fuck!?" Dirk exclaimed. "Did we suddenly crossover with the Nasuverse or some shit?"

What kind of Over Powered nonsense was going on in that other reality he couldn't sense anything from when he'd tugged at that Alternate of himself? What kind of insanity was going on there that could bring a fucking ULTRAZORD'S ULTIMATE WEAPON pointing down at him with the threat to wipe him off the face of the narrative for!?  
  
What was with the giant Stargate? What was with the fucking SPACE SHIP ready to blow him to oblivion!?

"Who the fuck gives out this many overpowered Noble Phantasms to someone?!" Dirk yelled, demanding to know just what kind of person would pull this kind of stunt.

And then, not from the universe, but from from the loudspeakers on the giant combined robot, did Dirk Strider, Prince of Heart, get an answer.

 _ **"Who, you might ask?"** _There was a laugh, a feminine voice that sent chills down everyone's spine, because that voice was familiar. Grating, and sharp, like aged cheese falling onto a pizza ready to be baked. " ** _Oh, I've been asking that too. Haven't I, Dork?"_**

"Terezi!" Dave Strider called out. "Boy am I glad to hear your voice on the other end of all of that being pointed at Dirk instead of us!"

"What the fuck is this shit!?" The Davebot called out. "Where the hell did this come from!? I haven't seen anything like this in any of the Davememories I can access!"

 _ **"Wasn't talking to any of you Striders,"**_ Terezi called back. **_"As for the answer, well. Let's just say a very nice girl gave us a VERY shiny bracelet as a going away present."_**

And then, in the gleaming light of all those attacks and the still active Supergate, a figure could be seen leaping down from the head of the giant robot- landing on the chest, hopping across to the left, water blue arm, and then across its length onto the still primed and ready to fire cannon.

They watched as a figure in the blue robes of a HEIR OF BREATH strolled down its length- hood flowing dramatically in a non existent wind.

Dirk stared, horror growing on his face. FUCKING HELL! The Retcon powers had been salvaged- that much was clear! But- But-! HOW!? 

"No!" Dirk swore, gazing at the impossible figure. "That's Impossible! You're dead! I saw it with my own Narrative Eyes! English's tooth bit into you and poisoned you to death! _ **YOU CAN'T BE HERE!"**_

The figure leaped as it reached the head, and landed atop of the snout of the open mouth of the Plesiozord cannon.

A glint of blue light illuminated a familiar set of square glasses.

 ** _"HOW!?"_** Dirk yells out. **_"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!?"_**

 ** _"Your memories will update in three,"_ **Terezi called out over the intercom of the Ultrazord. **_"Two--"_**

* * *

 

John Egbert was in a pinch.

This final assault against Lord English had wound up with just about everyone dead, and his hammers all eaten save for this last one he was trying to pry loose from the massive Cherub's jaws.

Lord English's eyes gleamed with light as he prepared to bite down- ending John Egbert if not now, but in a slow, painful death.

And then from out of fucking nowhere- a beam of pure concentrated HOPE smashed sidelong into English's skull, causing him to jerk to the side, essentially spitting out John Egbert into the void of the rapidly collapsing Furthest Ring.

He tumbled for a moment, before righting himself, and peering at where the beam had come from.

There was a rift in space-time, utterly different from everything ELSE that was collapsing around him.

And within it, he saw a girl who looked like Aradia- Damara??- fighting with a knight in crimson and gold armor against someone who looked suspiciously like Jade, if she'd been killed, and raised as a green hued zombie.

The rift closed moments later, and by the time John got his wits about him, English was already being dragged upwards into the pull of the Black hole by the sheer fact that he'd lost his footing and was tumbling, end over end, into the gaping maw of the black hole.

"What the fuck," John breathed out. "What the fuck just happened?"

"That's what I wanna know!" said a hybrid of two familiar voices.

John whirled around, and saw a Sprite floating there. Crow wings- cat ear shaped horns- orange and green flickering skin-- Legs?? A Sprite Squared.

"Davepeta," the sprite held out their hand. John shakes it. "English furrickin' knocked me out, and when i came too from my cat nap, ready to go hauling him into the black hole like the fuckin' piece of living garbage he is, some cat fight from another dimension goes and beats me to the punch! **_Mrroow! You gotta be Kitten me!_ **What even was that!? Some stray Hope Blast or something!?"

John shook his head. "I... God, I wish I knew. I almost got EATEN ALIVE there! Fuck. That's messed up! That's so messed up!"

"Well..." DavepetaSprite crossed their arms over their chest. "...So much for doin' my destiny or whatefur. Bluh. That's just... Whatefur. _Fine. **Whatefur!**_ **I don't care!** I guess I'll just go back to the Session and Join efurryone on Earth C..."

And then before John can say anything else, the sprite squared takes off towards some indeterminable point in reality...

He just hopes they get home safe, then.

Speaking of safe, seeing that other Jade just then reminded him of the Jade he flung out of the way of one of English's vaporizing blasts not too long ago.

"Shit!" John swore. "I have to find her before she bleeds out and dies!"

And thus, he rockets off through the rapidly collapsing remains of the Furthest Ring.

...Somewhere along the way, he spots some other version of him that didn't fare so well in the English fight hanging off of a server, talking with a ghost of Meenah Pixies.

John decides to steer clear of both of them lest he disturb something there.

That's when two Terezis come crashing through the scene, shouting over the fact that they only have one Jetpack- and then they crash into that other John, and the server, and the Ghost Meenah.

One of the Terezis manages to kick herself free while the other three of them go tumbling down into the Black hole, dragged by the Jetpack's momentum. That Terezi and John both watch in horrified confusion as those three vanish into the black hole entirely.

"...Well, shit.," Terezi remarks, and then glances around... her nose flares as she scents John watching nearby, and then she starts swimming in the empty space  over to him. "EGBERT! Do you have any idea what the fuck just happened a minute ago? One moment I'm minding my own business, looking for Vriska, and the next thing I know, there's two of me occupying the same space and we're hopelessly tangled up in our own jetpack!"

"I honestly have no damned idea what just happened there," John sighs, massaging his forehead with his fingers. "God... this whole English Fight thing went belly up the minute we exited the Juju."

Terezi finally floats over to him, and manages to latch an arm around one of his. She scowls. "...Also, is it just me, or are you younger than you should be?"

"How am I supposed to know?!" John answers, annoyed. "I almost got eaten alive by English and then got saved at the last second by some crazy fight's hope blast smashing into him from another dimension!"

"...Is English dead?" Terezi asks.

"As dead as he can be when he's gone crashing into a black hole," John glances at the thing.

John had no idea the Black Hole lead instead to a dimension where he had made the choice to stay rather than go.

John had no idea that he was right that it lead to English's death, however, and he had no idea that the events that had transpired- whether or not Davepeta had thrown English into the black hole to begin with- always resulted in English being confronted by his sister, possessing the body of a Dead Jade, who would kill him and eat him for power, consuming his monstrous soul and absorbing his ambitions and powers, leading to the future events that would loop back around and cause him to be knocked loose from a rather painful, long term death.

"And speaking of," Terezi says. "That thing's suddenly giving me the creeps."

"...Yeah," John frowns. "Have you seen a Jade floating around anywhere? She got stabbed through the chest and went free floating... I threw her out of the way of a laser blast so she might still be alive out here somewhere."

"I did, actually," Terezi frowns. "Saw her tumbling into the black hole while me and my sudden twin went tumbling around uncontrolled."

"Shit," John sighed, shaking his head and looking utterly miserable for it. "I... I guess that's probably what happened to Vriska, too."

"Probably," Terezi sighs as well. "I didn't see her anywhere in all of this and I've been searching for a VERY long time. Long enough I can't remember how long it's been."

John massages at the bridge of his nose. "Okay. Let's just... I think Davepeta had the best idea and we oughta just regroup back on Earth with the others."

Terezi nods. "That's.... as much as I hate to say it, that's a Good idea."

And thus, John took a stabilizing breath, ensured he had his grip on Terezi right, and still had the Ring of Life in his pocket, and then focused on teleporting him and Terezi home.

...Needless to say, they missed their destination by a few multiverses as the Unending interceded and pulled them far, far off course.

* * *

 

The Unending, as it was called, was a fucking conceptual universe in a bottle.

It contained everything that ever was and ever would be- real, fictional, or otherwise just designed but not made.

And right now, as the gathered heroes- once more consisting of some alternate universe versions of John and his friends- slowly made their way back to the forest where The End was resting, they were practicing their ultimate attacks, by envisioning things, and making things bigger, badder, and ramped up to eleven.

Needless to say, John and Terezi were very impressed when the Alternian woman, Joey Claire, began vaporizing volcanoes by empowering massive swarms of lobster-wasp things with Sollux's eyebeams. But that wasn't the end of it. Oh, no, not by a long shot.

She ALSO could call upon a fucking GIANT ROBOT that she called an Ultrazord, that had ITS OWN LASER BLAST attack.

Needless to say, they were terrified when Mordred's Excaliber began vaporizing entire swaths of land infront of his sword strikes.

Dirk and Dave Strider being able to rapidly make multiple clones of themselves was to be expected, really.

The Davepeta lookalike- Argo, they called themself- was instead practicing with imbuing their magic sword with the ability to tag targets with an effect that would reverse time whenever hit by another attack.

The Rose who had cat ears like Jasprose was summoning hand sized Rings with water puddles in them- "Mini Gates," she called them- that she could blast huge fucking laser beams out of them.

The other Jade utterly blowing massive craters into the landscape with nuclear explosions by flicking marbles at impossible speeds made John mourn just a little bit, as well as regain his determination.

There was still a chance to save his Jade.

Karkat was Karkat, and that was a refreshing thing... except for when he fucking summoned a fleet of identical ships, each armed with their own version of the red and blue "Hyperbeam" blasts.

The other John- Sheppard was his last name- had summoned a giant fucking city-ship to join that fleet of comparatively tiny spaceships.

Then, there was the other unknown.

Missy Fraiser, who was practicing her abilities by fucking taking tiny grains of sand and expanding them into massive boulders.

But were rapidly starting to stay there for longer and longer.

It was insane, what a conceptual space like this could accomplish.

Terezi? Terezi had but one idea and one idea alone.

She summoned a massive Lusus Dragon with eyes as bright red as the sun.

"Oh, geeze," Karkat exclaims. "That's just over kill. Summon more of them!"

And thus, Terezi did as the apparent Major in the Alternian military commanded.

As for John Egbert himself?

He settled for summoning all of his vast library of hammers that English had eaten, and then manifesting them at an upscaled size that he would never be able to wield properly without the assistance of the Breeze. And not just all the ones he lost- just by thinking about it, every mythological hammer from history began appearing one after another. And then hammers from comic books, and movies, and tv shows...

After all, if there was some guy who could get away with an endless array of swords, John could get away with an endless array of Hammers. Right? Hammers were kind of his thing.

* * *

 

When the fight was all said and done, of course it was as simple as a-

_**Flicker.** _

_**ZAP.** _

-And then, John and Terezi were kneeling, in the dead of night, alongside a highway where a truck of onions had spilled over, with a flickering, ghostly spirit of Jade Harley cradled in John's arms.

The Ring of Life just wasn't working to bring Jade back from the brink of death, and the other Resurrection means lay lifeless on his wrist.

"Shit!" he panicked. "I don't know how to use this fucking bracelet!"

"DId she give us an instruction manual or something?" Terezi asked.

Oh, how John wished there was an instruction manual to the Bracelet Joey Claire had given him.

Or better yet, that she was here to navigate him through using it.

At that thought, the Green crystal in the center glowed- and with a burst of mint green particles of light, The Alternian woman Joey Claire stood there. Or, rather, a Phantasm Copy of her did.

John and Terezi didn't have time to react, because the woman was already kneeling down and grabbing the bracelet and declaring:

"Okay, no time for talk, let's walk you through this!"

* * *

 

It was done. It had taken a several pounds of onions for spare organic mass and a lot of magic finness to stabilize the damaged soul. But... It was done.

Jade had been about quartered in age from what she'd been when John had recruited her for the stupid pointless fight against Lord English- meaning she was now closer to about four years old.

...She also looked nothing like Jade Harley anymore. No dog ears, for example. But primarily... it was in the face. She looked more related to the Jade who'd appeared in the Unending than the Jade John had known.

That said, the one thing that HAD remained the same was her massive mane of hair, which had not shrunk or changed any at all despite her age regression, and made the young Jade look like she was drowning in her own, floofy hair.

"Unfortunately," The Phantasm explained, "there simply wasn't enough data to work with for her soul to reconstruct her actual appearance, so we had to work off of what was stored in memory."

One thing was for certain, depending on where the Unending had dropped them out at, there was no way any of John's friends would recognize Jade now.

...And maybe that was a good thing.

"Where are we?" John asked, eyeing the upturned onion truck. It looked like it was from Earth, but there was no way of telling if it was his Earth or any other Earth for that matter.

"Hmm..." The Phantasam of Joey Claire mused, sniffing the air, much to Terezi's amusement. "I would say we're probably in Dimension W0-5MEB-MU-SNK-003. Sixty nine degrees zorn-ward off of where you should have been deposited. Likely, the Unending thought there was a need for the upturned Onion truck."

"...So, who are you, exactly," Terezi asked. "You're not exactly all there like the girl you look like was. Plus... I doubt she could deduce that just by sniffing the air."

"I am a projection-slash-emulation of Joey Claire stored within the Administration Crystal of the Bracelet you now own," the projection explained. "I'll admit, I was surprised to be duplicated and made whole while an instance of me remained attached to her body, and being given away to someone in need means I will likely never see my favored Host again, and so... Here I am, borrowing her form, because you asked for an Instruction guide and a Teacher. You may call me... Quality Assurance, or QA, if you wish."

"...That makes a bit of sense, uh, QA," John mused it over. "So... I'm guessing that's new?"

"It's an upgrade for sure, a side-effect of being reborn in a conceptual space, I suppose." 'QA' answered. "Such as is the ability to summon every Noble Phantasam that was created within the Unending during your last fight. That seems to have replaced the base superstrength component of the bracelet itself. Not that you need it personally, John Egbert."

"So, we used Rejuvenation," John pointed at the Jade Green Crystal. "And Shaper-" The fuschia pink crystal. "And Reaper-" The blood red crystal. "To save Jade. What do the others do?"

"Orange is Communion, it allows the psychic ability to converse with animal and animal like creatures." QA informs.

"Oh, like Tavros," Terezi summarizes.

"Yes, it is an ability commonly bound in the Bronze Blood class," QA says. "Yellow is Hyperbeam, it is primarily a weapon based ability- firing off beams of energy that obliterate its targets. It may also be used to psiionically propel spaceships, if you feel inclined."

"Sollux," Terezi nods.

"The lime green crystal in the center of it all is Administration, myself," QA continues. "I am typically used to keep the other personality matrixes in line, however on my own I am able to control all Insectoid creatures that do not eventually evolve into humanoid forms." She conjured an Arai Beetle for emphasis. "The Blue Crystal is Regent, and it is used in may different ways, all of which involve the connections between minds."

 _"Vriska,"_ John and Terezi chime in at the same time.

"So, basically most of the Alternian Blood caste psychic abilities are represented here on a singular Bracelet," QA explains. "And that is now in addition to the summoning ability. You have quite the weapon on your hand there, John."

John stared at the Bracelet for a moment. "So... what now?"

"What now indeed?" QA muses. "If it were me, I would get off of the side of a highway, for starters. It's a miracle nobody's come back for the abandoned onion truck as it is. That said, your choice."

John and Terezi shared a look, and then shrugged.

"Which way to the nearest town?" John asked.

QA pointed down the road in the direction the Onion truck had been heading.

With that confirmed, John hefted the unconscious Jade onto his back, and he and Terezi began walking.

* * *

 

It was only half an hour later, down that long, abandoned, very lonely highway, long after the city lights began dominating the horizon, that Terezi thought of something

"...There won't be any problems with me walking around all full Alternian, would there?" Terezi asked.

"I've searched the local databases that I can access from here, and no, I believe not. You're most likely to be assumed to be a 'Case 53' rather than an Alien," QA's voice echoed out of the Bracelet, with her form having been dispersed to 'conserve energy.'

"Huh," Terezi blinked. "No idea what that is, but cool."

"However, if you do decide to return to your home dimension at any point before your initial departure, I would recommend both of you changing your appearances with Shaper so as to prevent anyone from recognizing you, as well as preventing any paradoxes that would arise from such a discrepancy. Unless you wished to create such paradoxes, of course, but that would be ill advised given the tenuous nature of everything that is the Multiverse."

"We'll think on it," John says.

And then they came across a sign.

"Welcome to Brockton Bay?" John squinted at the sign, and then further down the highway at the city in the distance. "Where the heck is Brockton Bay? I've never heard of it."

"It would be located somewhere on the East Coast of the United States," QA reported. "If you can find a hotel, it would be best for us to stop so that I may perform a more thorough examination of our work on Jade to ensure her internal stability."

"..." John then asked, "How are we going to pay for a hotel?"

"By routing money from someone who gained it illegally, of course," QA chipperly announced her intent to break the law by stealing from criminals.

Terezi couldn't help but laugh at the irony.

* * *

 

John stared at his reflection in the mirror of the cheapest motel they could find.

He hadn't shaved in... either a very long time, or a few days... Depending on how time itself passed within the Juju he and the others had been trapped in, that was.

Add in the Unending... that was a long while that he'd gone without shaving.

His Dad would be so disappointed, wouldn't he?

...But what if he didn't *have* to shave?

He looked at the Bracelet on his wrist.

Change his appearance, huh?

"QA."

"Yes, John?"

"What exactly can you change about me, physically. I mean. What are the limits?"

"Functionally, none. Shaper is capable of converting species to species, hybridizing the best traits of two distinct species,  cloning new bodies from scratch given raw materials, and even converting from one biological sex to another. Furthermore, if you are unhappy with those changes, as long as a backup is saved before hand, it is entirely possible to revert those changes to your original state."

John thought about it.

After everything he'd been through, the idea of just... being someone else for a while was very alluring.

Returning to Earth C was what they'd been trying for before being stranded in the Unending in the first place. But...

Before? Returning before?

"Why did you suggest returning Before we left?" John asked.

"...Because you told us about SBURB, indirectly, through the Unending providing that knowledge. I saw a connection with Mordred, and what he saw in his fight with Damara. And I was curious, so I browsed for more, and thus I saw more. I saw events you did not witness. Events you may be able to modify by being present where you were initially absent."

"...And?" John asked. "I get the feeling there's an 'and' or a 'but' coming."

"...Were it not for Mordred's Hope blast intervening, you would be irrevocably Dead, and Terezi would have carried your corpse with her into service of the Prince of Heart, seeking an impossible resurrection."

John glanced out of the bathroom at Terezi, who was keeping an eye- er, well, smell-o-vision- on Jade as she slept.

"...Prince of Heart?" John frowned. "What the fuck do you mean by that? What's Dirk been up to while we're gone?"

"The same thing that the Calliope who was possessing Jade was doing- seeking to take control over a Narrative."

"Tell me everything you know."

* * *

 

"...Shit," Terezi stares at the listed projection of events as QA had learned them. "That's... kind of insane." She checked her own phone. "But it's there. I got Vriska's messages just like you said I would. Though, it ends with a "Oh, wait, there you are. Just falling from the sky like its no big deal." in the middle of what looks like a love confession to me."

"Events have already been modified from their original course," QA explained, "however, they can always be further modified. Events are still in flux and have yet to be hammered into place."

"I just didn't think Callie had it in her," Terezi grouches. "Or, an alternate of her anyways."

"I believe the problem lies in her Domination and Consumption of Caliborn's soul," QA theorizes. "Repeatedly, at that. At that point, his worst aspects would start to bleed through into her personality. Soul Amalgamations are a tricky thing to manage if you are unprepared for the strain. Allowing for a chance for her soul to be split from him on a permanent basis would be the best outcome for everyone."

"So.. Here's what I'm thinking," John starts. "We change how we look, go to Earth C, and we watch, and we wait, and we meddle where we can. And when it comes down to it, we go confront Dirk the moment that the Corpse Stealer steps through that rift."

"Okay, sure, good plan," Terezi smiles like a shark. "...So what changes are we making?"

"For me.... as far and away from John Egbert as I can get, that way Dirk won't recognize me." John shrugs. "You can do whatever the hell you want, weirdo."

Terezi's smile turns to a sharp grin. "Here's a fun idea. Why don't we switch roles for a while?"

"...Switch?" John blinks, processing. "Oh. You mean literally swapping body types?"

"It might be fun to be human for a while," Terezi shrugs. "Wanna try being an Alternian for a change?"

"Sure, for a while atleast, but..." John smirks. "Dirk might realize that's what we did somehow. Let's add another layer to it."

And thus, did John explain, and thus, did Terezi laugh.

And thus, when Jade Harley awoke the next morning, it was with no memories of who she was or what she'd been doing before.

It was also to two doting parents- an Alternian Woman of the Cerulian Cast who looked an awful lot like a bunny-ear-horned, glasses-less Vriska Serket looking like she was cosplaying John, and a Human male who looked like a red haired Dave Strider with no fashion sense at all.

It was a but an hour later that they got breakfast, and then an hour after that that Jade was taken to a local barber shop and got her unruly tangled mess of hair cut short. Because it was just far, far, far too long for a four year old to safely manage hair that long.

* * *

 

_**FLASH-ZAP!** _

They arrived as a family on Earth C at the carefully calculated time of five months before the 'Creators' would arrive from the past via Time Travel.

Nobody noticed the irregularity of a house suddenly being purchased and implausibly moved into impossibly quickly.

But then again, the residents of Earth C generally weren't the most observant of people after thousands of years of no conflicts or war or strife. They tended to take everything at face value.

...And that was where the first change started to be made.

When the "Creators" arrived- "Joan and Rezeti Watson" had already finished the long and arduous process of adapting a rather unique novel series into their own television series... And had pitched it to a television studio.

The same day the heroes who had survived SBURB arrived, did a hardcore Scifi series full of Time Loops and magic premier in a TV Movie called STARGATE.

By sheer circumstance, none of the "Creators" watched its premier except for Jake English, and he dropped it like it was hot the minute he realized that it was basically a rewrite of the Stargate movie he was familiar with staring *Himself* as one of the main characters. Except that it was clearly based on his OTHER self, and not the him as he was, all Page of Hope and god regalia dressed. Jake was almost flattered by it, but then he saw that his other self of that story had _***children***_ and, well...

Jake promptly ignored that the show existed, and tried his damndest to forget it was a thing. And any time anyone brought it up in his presence, he told them just to ignore it because it was sensationalist drama written with no context of reality. Most of the people bringing it up being Carapacians and Trolls and Consorts saw no problem with the idea of it being sensationalist drama written with no context of reality and ignored Jake's request and continued to watch it regardless because it was good television.

By the time any of the other "Creators" caught onto the series existence, it had been around long enough that they just assumed it had been made in the wake of their original arrival to 'honor' them, and they followed through on Jake's request to ignore it because clearly he had watched enough to know it was bad. And if Jake English refused to watch something surely it HAD to be bad to offend his sensibilities.

None of them ever bothered to look up whether or not the author of the novel series that started to be published after the series' premier and critical acclaim, one MIKARI AIIKHO, actually existed in this world or not.

And needless to say, Dirk Strider only casually acknowledged the shows existence as something that was a thing, and had no interest in watching it. He had other plans that required his focus... Such as making his own television shows, or what have you.

* * *

 

_**FLASH-ZAP!** _

Seven years later, and the live action series was rapidly becoming something that most of Earth C's population enjoyed and were rapidly consuming every episode as it came out. Its "SG-1" component was in its Seventh Season, teasing a massive fight with Lord English in its Eighth Season.

Seven years later, and John Egbert made a choice.

We don't concern ourselves with the timeline where he chose to stay beyond the following:

When Dirk Strider felt the change to the timeline, he was distracted in his move to escape an endless existence by a random episode of Stargate airing on television.

And thus, did he realize something was amiss. Something was very, very, horribly amiss.

He turned his friends onto the existence of the show, and they all watched as their likenesses danced across the screen.

They would go to confront the show runners behind the massive project, but found, to their utter confusion, that Joan and Rezeti Watson, along with their daughter, Jade, had left for parts unknown, leaving the TV series to continue production under a strict series of guidelines they had left to the studio.

Over the next few years, the heroes of one multiverse watched as the heroes of another began to encounter hints that things were not quite what it seemed.

...And come the sudden reveal of a connection to their own universe in late Season 10, things began to suddenly make a whole lot of sense that it otherwise wouldn't have.

But, that is a story for some other time, perhaps. A much happier one that a certain corpse stealing ghost did not peer too much into the back history of, because her eyes were busy seeing another timeline as it was being overwritten by a retcon, unaware of much of the major divergence points until it was far, far, too late, and she had already consumed Lord English's body and soul and powers.

* * *

 

_**FLASH-ZAP!** _

In the timeline where John Egbert left, the two interlopers began their other course of action.

First and foremost? Using their clout as developers of a hit TV Series to back Karkat Vantas in his run for President.

"...Who the fuck are Joan and Rezeti Watson?" Karkat would ask.

"Dunno, some big name TV producers, but hey, their endorsement's gotten our publicity ratings through the roof. We might not even need Jake's endorsement to win this," Dave would answer. "The Economy is gonna be saved, Karkat!"

"Would you leave that economy bullshit alone already, Strider!?"

* * *

 

_**FLASH- ZAP!** _

Dirk Strider fired his sniper rifle.

He waited, watching through the scope as his target, Jade Harley, became possessed by the spirit of Calliope...

But the Tranquilizer dart never landed.

Instead, it sailed clean through the air that Karkat Vantas' head would have been in had Dave Strider not pulled him out of the way with a cry of "Sniper!"

Dirk blinked- processing the irregularity- then quickly swore as he rapidly had other things to deal with.

While he assumed that the dead Calliope had something to do with it, he never noticed the human woman in the audience that had just snapped her fingers the moment he fired, and retcon'd the projectile onto a different path. Nor did he notice her slip out of the crowd into an alleyway as a human, and exit it on the other side as an Alternian.

Calliope, meanwhile, similarly did not notice these things, and continued to Chide Dirk Strider over attempting to assassinate a Presidential Candidate.

* * *

 

**_FLASH- ZAP!_ **

Dirk swore as he returned to his lab, finding the mechanical Rose-bot he had been building torn to shreds within his lab.

"No! Fucking hell! How the fuck did-!?" And once again, his thoughts went to Calliope, possessing Jade and currently having control over the narrative.

It was her doing. It had to be.

So obsessed over that possibility was he, that he never noticed the red haired lookalike to his Brother whistling a jaunty tune as he twirled a sledge hammer around in his hand.

Calliope, having observed the show that had been put on before hand, merely assumed that it was payback for the attempted assassination. She should have questioned how a Dave Strider fan would have known that it was Dirk behind it, but she did not.

* * *

 

_**FLASH-ZAP!** _

Dirk panicked as he stole away an unconscious Rose Lalonde into his equally stolen SKAIANET SPACESHIP.

Karkat had won the election, and Calliope's presence was keeping him constrained within the narrative far too much for his own liking.

Neither of them realized, of course, that they were both playing along to a script written by someone else.

That was the folly of their assumptions. Assuming that they were the ones in control the entire time.

Calliope would learn that lesson the hard way after she arranged for the heroes to chase after Dirk into space to rescue the blatantly kidnapped Rose Lalonde. After they confronted him over a ready-to-be-seeded-by-SBURB planet....

And after she stepped through a rift which she never should have stepped through.

Too much of her Brother's controlling influence had bled through, corrupting that once innocent soul.

As for Dirk?

* * *

 

_**FLASH-ZAP!** _

They all watched as a figure in the blue robes of a HEIR OF BREATH strolled down its length- hood flowing dramatically in a non existent wind.

"No!" Dirk swore, gazing at the figure. "Impossible! You're dead! I saw it with my own Narrative Eyes! English's tooth bit into you and poisoned you to death! _**YOU CAN'T BE HERE!"**_

The figure leaped as it reached the head, and landed atop of the snout of the open mouth of the Plesiozord cannon.

A glint of blue light illuminated a familiar set of square glasses.

 _ **"HOW!?"**_ Dirk yells out. _**"HOW ARE YOU STILL ALIVE!?"**_

 ** _"Your memories will update in three,"_** Terezi called out over the intercom of the Ultrazord. _ **"Two--"**_

And then they remembered.

And the figure atop the Ultrazord's cannon mouth removed the glasses with a smile on her face as she spoke a single word:

_"One."_

"...Wh..." Dave started. "What the fuck? We won the election? But-?"

"Wait, what?" Karkat double takes at the figure atop the Ultrazord's canon. "That's not John. John's Male. And Human. Not an Alternian Chick!"

"...Wh... but..." Jade whimpered, hands to her head, nursing a mighty headache. "What the fuck is going on?"

Dirk's jaw went slack, and the Rosebot put her hands to her head, repeating "Divide By Zero Error" for several moments before uttering a single "Reboot."

The Davebot just glanced around at everyone. "What the fuck did I miss cause my memories didn't update at all."

"...YOU!" Jake pointed at Joan Watson, casually standing atop the Ultrazord's canon, with an accusatory tone. "You're the ones who made that god-awful Stargate ripoff about us!"

 _ **"Jake, I think the ratings beg to differ about whether or not it's awful or not,"**_ Terezi's voice- no, it was different somehow now, even if they couldn't place it- echoed from the Ultrazord's speakers.

"And as for a ripoff?" Joan shrugged. "Well. Let's be honest here. We were literally basing our show off of a novelization of real events. With permission from the novelist. Sooooo. I dunno what you're talking about. Rip off. Hah, what a laugh!"

"Fucking hell!" Dirk yelled. "You! You two sabotaged me, somehow, didn't you!? HOW!?"

How had they taken control of the narrative from him without his noticing!? How had they subverted events so drastically!? No, it couldn't have just been them alone. That was impossible! There had to have been a third narrator taking advantage of the gaps caused by... by... by...

_**WHAT THE FUCK EVEN WAS ALL OF THIS!!?** _

_"Mmmayyybe?"_ Joan shrugged again. "I mean, can you blame us? We got an advanced copy of your little script and decided we needed to make a few edits. Don't get us wrong, it was fine meta theory work, Dirk, but... Well... " She raised a hand to her mouth and fake whispered. "Honestly, your characterization could have used a little bit of work. So we tweaked things a bit."

"Fine," Dirk threw his arms out to the side. "You win! You've got me surrounded by incredibly deadly lasers of all kinds! Just finish me off and let me rot in a Just Death Already, why don't you?"

Joan considered that- raised her hand- and SNAP.

The Rogue of Time launched forwards with a single swipe of a katana blade- jumping from one side of the field to the other.

Dirk blinked- and realized he was still alive.

"What?" Rosebot remarked, confused, as she finished rebooting. "You... nicked the paint on my chest?"

Dirk checked his body for injuries.

He had a small, simple, bleeding cut across the surface of his right shoulder.

It was barely a paper cut.

"...Why?" Dirk glared up at who he was sure was John Egbert- it couldn't be anyone else- and yet.... "Why spare me?"

"Dirk, come on, we all know that deep down you just wanted to preserve Earth C from narrative irrelevance," Joan says. "You just went about it in a really badly thought out way."

Dirk... had no idea how to respond to that save for his usual means of self-destructive behavior.

 **"I'M THE BAD GUY!"** Dirk stomped his foot on nothing. _ **"I SHOULD BE DEAD! JUST SHOOT THOSE DAMNED CANNONS ALREADY AND FINISH THIS!!"**_

Joan glanced upwards at the Ultrazord's head, then down at the various heroes.

They were still reeling from the update to their memories and were stuck, barely able to watch.

"Well, okay then, if you insist."

She snapped her fingers again, and thus, the Ultrazord Fired a beam of light upon Dirk and Rose Bot and Dirk's retroactively stolen spaceship.

The spaceship, of course, was obliterated in the onslaught, and the explosion gave everyone watching pause for horror.

When the light show faded away, however, Dirk Strider stood there, arms crossed infront of his face as if blocking, and wincing away as if expecting something horrible to have happened. He checked over himself, looking mightily confused, and then it hit everyone else like a brick to the face.

Aradia was the first to point it out, though- "Oh **_WOW!_ **He _SHRUNK!_ "

Yes, Dirk Strider had miraculously de-aged in the onslaught of that burst of energy, Gone from a 23-year old back down to a 16-year old.

"What just happened?" Rose Lalonde-Maryam, on the other hand, was suddenly no longer a Robot, but otherwise was still the same age she had been before being kidnapped. "...Am I hallucinating again?" she blinked. "No... this is way too vivid to be a hallucination, and my head doesn't hurt at all anymore either."

She gathered her wits about her, flew out of the circle of Noble Phantasms without harassment, and drifted upwards towards Joan atop the Ultrazord's now recharging canon. They stared at each other for a moment.

"Hi, Rose," Joan smiled.

"...Hello," Rose answered. "I have to say, I wasn't expecting you to fake your own death and change genders just to fulfill my unmentioned visions of the future. Some other me must have tipped you off."

"Nah," Joan held up her wrist, a gleaming white bracelet with seven rainbow hued gems catching all kinds of impossible light and drawing the eye. "An AI pretending to be my Aunt from another Dimension told me!"

The Bracelet pulsed even as the Alternian woman with the swarm of Arai Beetles laughed, "You're Welcome." This drew Jake and Jade's attention with drawing realization. 

That woman's appearance was another dimension's Harley/Egbert Aunt?

Jake suddenly swallowed, remembering from retconed memories the Stargate story featuring a Him who had KIDS, and while Jade stared on with awe and appreciation... Jake realized that out there, some other version of himself had fucked up so horribly as to have a daughter who went on and became so powerful a fucking ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE would steal her appearance and powers within... whatever the fuck a Noble Phantasm was!

And Jake wondered just how much of that life reflected on the him that raised Jade... And Jade suddenly likewise came to a similar revelation, turning towards Jake and asking, quietly, whispered, "Do I have an older sister??"

Meanwhile, Rose considered all of that, along with her slowly altering memories, and then slapped a hand to her forehead. "Why am I only just NOW remembering the insufferable presence of my Cat-ized Sprite-self hovering over everything I did for every single day I was out of it with a headache, and why am I remembering ignoring them as if she weren't there instead of trying to murder her?"

"We had to change a few things," Joan shrugged. "One of them was making the Sprites a thing, again. Would you believe Dirk tried to make everyone forget they exist? That was very rude!"

"I did what now?" Dirk asked, extremely confused. "What's going on? Weren't we just about to enter the door?? Why is everyone so old!?"

"Don't you worry, Dirk, we'll explain everything later," Joan smiled at him. "But first, why don't we go somewhere a little more comfortable where we can talk... and get you guys caught up on seven or eight years of awesome Scifi TV!"

Rose had a small smile of recognition. "Ah. I see, now. I would've thought you'd go with June instead of Joan, if you ever switched genders."

"Yeah, that was my first thought," Joan answered. "But _THEN_ I caught this TV show called _Elementary_ in another dimension- long story short, Sherlock Homes but present day and with a female John Watson, and, well, I just had to make a reference to her!"

"I see..." Rose then turned back to her friends who had come to rescue her... and then zeroed in on her Wife in amongst the crowd. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a hybrid kidnapping and failure to resist a brainwashing attempt to make up for."

"Go right ahead," Joan waved it off, starting to dismiss the various Noble Phantasms as Rose rocketed towards Kanaya Maryam with gusto.

The amount of kissing and apologies that came from the Married couple was enough to distract everyone from the fact that they understood exactly jack shit about anything.

"So... Uh..." Dave glanced at the Davebot. "Mission accomplished, I guess?"

"Fuck if I know, man," the Davebot answered, looking horribly confused by everything.

Yes. It was quite possible to say that nobody understood anything that just happened, and that was okay.

After all... Real life wasn't anything like a narrative story that had to make logical sense from an outside perspective.

And as Joan had vaguely threatened... they now had about seven years of television to catch up on just to even start to understand anything.

At least it would be easier to watch it than to read the novels. Apparently THOSE were already over one point five million words and climbing.

* * *

 

**EARTH DATE: AUGUST 20TH, 2010.**

Your name is Mikari Aiikho, and you consider the script that just landed on your desk, courtesy of two very excited writers.

"...I like it," you say, tongue firmly in cheek. "It's a wonderful 'what-if' to whoever the hell those other people were. Who you two clearly are not."

The Alternian male laughed. "Yeah, well. Clearly we're not. I mean, for starters, our species races are completely flipped around!"

"And I liked the very meta way of acknowledging the novels as a thing that exist," you continue. "It's such a rarely done thing these days."

"Oh, yeah, for sure," the Human female agreed with a nod, adjusting her glasses with a hand whose wrist was clad in a silver bracelet with seven rainbow colored gemstones. "People tend to forget pretty easily that every story is verifiably someone else's life, even if adjusted slightly to protect the names of the innocent and all that."

"Oh, definitely," you say. "Also. I approve of your jewelry choice. It shows your dedication to the story, although, not quite to historical accuracy."

"What can I say," the Alternian male said. "Joan here likes to embellish."

"Just a smidge!" the Human woman laughs.

"Well. Either way," you say, "I like it. You're hired. Go speak to Martin Lloyd down in the Writers room asap and tell him I said you can start work immediately."

"Thank you, Ma'am!" Both of them bow their heads in eager excitement, and they quickly head off.

You sit there, idling in your office for a few moments, then you laugh to yourself for a moment, because god, if their energy isn't infectious.

Then, you turn back to your OTHER job, and open the laptop, peering through the report from Colonel Vantas about all the political trouble that's happening back in Alternia Galaxy due to an entire extra planet suddenly appearing in the same same empty space that the planet Alternia used to sit in- already home to a strange mix of Humans, Alternians, and Carapacians.

...You glance back up at the two chairs that had just been occupied, and consider your options...

...Nah. You think you'll let this one slide for the time being.

Those two have worked hard enough for their happy ending. You'll pretend to be oblivious for just a little while longer.

You peer through the rest of the report...

Oh! Lovely! Confirmation that the Aschen Severance Time Loop has been completed, and John, Jade, Argo, Rose, and both younger Karkats are on their way back to the past.

That's one more problem all tidied away, isn't it?

You spin around in your office chair, giggling like a kid for a moment, and turning to peer out your office window.

Yeah. That's a view you're not ever going to get tired of.

* * *

 

The camera pulls back from Mikari's office window, revealing it to be housed in an Atlantis styled city spire, but one that was part of an Atlantis complex that was built into an even larger pier that was part of a massive Aincrad styled Castle Ship, floating aimlessly through an ocean of stars and multi-colored nebula of red and gold and orange hues.

Painted on the side of the Castle Ship's first floor was the same batch of text in five language fonts, Ancient Lantean, Alternian New Bold, New D'ni Modern, Goa'uld/Tok'ra Standard, and English/Courier New:  
  
_**"DCCS-305: UNWRITTEN"**_

The Dimension Crossing Castle Ship, in this timeline atleast, had been completed and launched. But... as to whether or not that is our main timeline or not... well...

_[That Ending has Yet to Be Written](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpB9SDSygh0)._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's it. End of Act 6 Act 3 as a collection of chapters. 
> 
> I've decided I won't be taking a week break and we'll be picking up with the start of Act 6 Act 4 on Monday.
> 
> \---
> 
> So. Yeah. That's a whole potential of possibility for what happens in the Homestuck Epilogues side of things. Subtle little changes here and there, followed by it all just falling apart on the Narrative Control side of things.
> 
> It's amazing what a little Outside Context Problem can do to a whole bunch of best laid plans, eh? 
> 
> Dirk got hard reset back to before he stepped foot through the door into the new Universe thanks in part to Argo's little time reversion abilities in controlled Phantasm form. He wanted death, and didn't get it. Rose also got de-botified. Yay!
> 
> And to think it all happened because Alt Callie stepped through a portal, got stuck, and a stray hope blast hit her brother in the face, causing a Hiccup in the remains of Paradox Space. 
> 
> Brockton Bay/Worm cameo because why the heck not, and floofy haired Jade because *PesterQuest Sprites*!!! So Adorable.


End file.
